A simple handshake between President Xi Jinping and once-shunned entrepreneur Jack Ma sent Chinese tech stocks booming in recent weeks as it was interpreted as the latest sign that the sector is being brought in from the cold — though experts advise caution.

Beijing launched a regulatory blitz on the industry in 2020 that triggered a massive sell-off, wiping hundreds of billions of dollars from major tech firms' market value.

But there are increasing signals that it is adopting a friendlier attitude, as domestic economic woes persist and leaders nervously eye a heightened trade war with the United States.