(Yicai) April 22 -- That of humanoid robots will remain a high-growth industry over the next decade, as Chinese equity fund managers remain confident despite first-quarter gains facing setbacks this month.

“The humanoid robot industry will undoubtedly become a growth-oriented golden track over the next few years or even decade, holding immense potential for development and investment opportunities,” said Zhang Yinxian, fund manager of Ping-An Advanced Manufacturing Theme A.

The development trajectory of the humanoid robot industry will parallel that of smartphones and electric vehicles, with an even longer duration and larger track capacity, Zhang noted.

Ping-An Advanced Manufacturing Theme A is an equity fund among the best-performing in China in the first quarter of the year, thanks to its heavy investment in technology stock positions, especially those related to humanoid robots. It achieved returns of about 54 percent in the three months ended March 31.

However, as the market sentiment shifted in the second quarter, technology stocks that gained momentum in the first quarter began to fall back due to periodic adjustments. The drawdown of Ping-An Advanced Manufacturing Theme A exceeded 12 percent this month as of April 18, according to data from Wind Information.

Maxwealth Advanced Manufacturing Smart Choice Theme A, another equity fund investing heavily in humanoid robot and tech stocks in general, also experienced a similar trajectory. It achieved returns of 52 percent in the first quarter but then recorded a drawdown of around 12 percent this month as of April 18.

Since the beginning of the second quarter, pharmaceutical stocks and shares trading on the Beijing Stock Exchange have shown an upward trend. Chinese closed-end fund Wanjia BSE Huixuan Two-Year Regular Open Fund A has grown 12 percent so far this month, achieving an annual return rate of 48 percent.

Meanwhile, Great Wall Pharmaceutical Industry Selected Fund A and Maxwealth Pharmaceutical Innovation Smart Selected Fund A, which focus on innovative pharmaceutical stock positions, have achieved annual return rates of nearly 45 percent and over 35 percent, respectively.

Chinese innovative drugs are accelerating the transformation and commercialization of their global layout, said Dan Lin and Chu Kefan, fund managers at Maxwealth Pharmaceutical Innovation Smart Selected Fund A. The national support for pharmaceutical and medical device innovation remains unchanged, as such industries hold great investment opportunities, they added.

More than half of the 1,490 Chinese equity funds that have released first-quarter reports increased their investments in positions in the period, showing positive market sentiment, according to data compiled by Yicai. Three-quarters of them had invested at least 80 percent of their money in positions.

Nearly three-quarters of the 1,490 equity funds achieved positive returns in the first quarter, with 10 logging returns of over 30 percent. The highest performer was Penghua Carbon Neutrality Theme A, with returns exceeding 60 percent. As a result, its size expanded nearly 11-fold to CNY109 billion (USD14.9 billion) as of March 31 from Dec. 31.

Editor: Futura Costaglione