HONG KONG, May 16 Reuters Large Asian hedge funds added Chinese education companies to their portfolios in the first quarter of 2023, and bought stocks in U.S. tech giants expected to benefit from ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence systems, regulatory filings showed.

Investors poured money into private tutoring leaders, including New Oriental and TAL Education, that have come through a near twoyear crackdown in China on afterschool education.

Hong Kongbased Greenwoods Asset Management bought 3.7 million of shares in New Oriental39;s U.S.listed American depositary receipts ADRs, making it the second largest in the fund39;s U.S. listed holdings. Greenwoods also built a new position in TAL Education by acquiring 2.2 million shares.

TAL was also on Singaporebased FengHes shopping list. The fund run by exAlibaba CTO John Wu bought 2.1 million more shares to boost its stake in the tutoring giant. It took some profit from New Oriental during the quarter, although the latter remains its second largest exposure in the U.S. market.

Share prices of both New Oriental and TAL collapsed over 90 from its peak after Beijings ban on K12 private tutoring. The price of two stocks have doubled from the low point in October after China dropped its strict controls against COVID19.

In China39;s current market conditions, education companies stand out as spending on education does not decline as household spending declines, as parents invested in their children39;s future, analysts…