Kingsoft Office Stocks Soar on Government Format Shift

Shares of Kingsoft Office, a Chinese software maker and competitor to Microsoft Office, surged by as much as 18 percent in Monday morning trading, contributing to a rebound in China's tech sector.

The rally was sparked by a significant change at the Ministry of Commerce, which last week released a document imposing restrictions on rare earth exports using Kingsoft's WPS file format, rather than the more commonly used Microsoft-developed Word or Adobe-based PDF formats. Investors interpret this as a move to promote domestic software and pursue technological self-reliance.

Despite the surge in Kingsoft's stock, the broader Shanghai market opened lower, impacted by rising US-China trade tensions. Investor sentiment remains cautious in light of China's rare earth export restrictions and US President Donald Trump's online warning about a potential 100 percent tariff hike starting in November.

By noon, Kingsoft Office had risen 7.37 percent to 318.9 yuan (US$44.8), reaching an intraday high of 351 yuan. The company's market value reached 149.1 billion yuan. In contrast, Shanghai's composite index fell by 0.96 percent.

Hong Kong-based Kingsoft Corp, which holds shares in Kingsoft Office, also saw its stock increase by 10 percent in the morning.

Targeting the global enterprise market

Kingsoft Office, supported by Xiaomi Chairman Lei Jun, is making a strong push into the international market. According to Zhang Ning, general manager of Kingsoft Office's ecosystem division, WPS 365, a new global version of its office suite designed for enterprise customers, is set to launch in December. This new offering will incorporate AI functions and enhance work collaboration.

Kingsoft Office currently boasts 651 million monthly active users globally, including 200 million in overseas markets. The ASEAN region is proving to be a key growth engine, with the software already being used on 50 million devices there.

Kingsoft is partnering with Xiaomi, Huawei, Qualcomm, AWS and Google to offer seamless collaborative work services to its global user base to support its global ambition.