Temasek Buys Stakes in Chinese Robotaxi Firms WeRide Ponyai
Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings acquired stakes in Chinese autonomous driving companies WeRide and Pony.ai during the third quarter of 2024, according to regulatory filings released on Friday. The state-owned investment firm purchased approximately 1.4 million WeRide shares and 14,500 Pony.ai shares, totaling around 13.7 million dollars in value.
The acquisitions mark Temasek’s continued interest in autonomous vehicle technology. The investment giant previously backed Swedish electric and self-driving truck technology supplier Einride and Israeli artificial intelligence mobility startup Autobrains. Both WeRide and Pony.ai completed their United States public listings in 2024 and began trading shares on the Hong Kong stock exchange last week.
Temasek expanded its Chinese technology portfolio beyond autonomous driving during the quarter. The fund acquired shares in Tencent Music, the country’s largest online music platform, and VNET Group, a major data centre service provider. The firm significantly increased existing positions in e-commerce platform PDD Holdings by 200 percent, real estate brokerage KE Holdings by 76 percent, and online travel agency Trip.com Group by 41 percent.
The investment firm maintained holdings in electric vehicle manufacturer Xpeng and Alibaba Group Holding while divesting from e-commerce companies JD.com and Vipshop, generating over 30 million dollars from those sales. By September’s end, Temasek held 29 billion dollars in United States securities, with approximately 2 billion dollars allocated across 16 US-listed Chinese stocks.
The moves contrast with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which eliminated all Chinese holdings during the same period. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund sold approximately 158,000 PDD shares and around 227,000 shares in Chinese pharmaceutical developer BeOne Medicines.
Temasek’s latest investment decisions reflect the 51-year-old institution’s strategy of targeting emerging technologies while pursuing enhanced shareholder returns. The robotaxi sector represents a growing segment of China’s technology industry as companies compete to commercialize autonomous vehicle services globally.
