Alibaba soars 10% as Chinese tech stocks rally after Beijing signals it will pause crackdown on the sector and bolster economic growth

• Alibaba and JD.com jumped Friday as Chinese officials said they would bolster the economy.
• China's Politburo signaled support for the tech sector, which has been the subject of a clampdown by officials.

US-listed shares of Alibaba and other Chinese tech stocks jumped Friday after the Chinese government suggested it will dial back its crackdown on the sector and pledged further stimulus efforts as the country faces its slowest growth in three decades.

E-commerce behemoth Alibaba soared 12% to $101.56 in premarket trade, moving above $100 for the first time since April 12. Rival JD.com gained 14% to trade at more than $65 for the first time since mid-March.

The Politburo, the decision-making committee of China's Communist Party, reportedly said it will "introduce specific measures" to support the technology sector. Shares of ride-hail platform DiDi leapt 18%, and online search and marketing services company Baidu gained 8%.

The Politburo said it's aiming to support the economy which has been hit by a renewed wave of COVID-19 infections and subsequent lockdowns of millions of residents.

"We should waste no time in planning more policy tools and enhance the strength of adjustment in due course," the Politburo reportedly said Friday following a quarterly meeting to discuss developments in the world's second-largest economy.

China has set a 2022 growth target of 5.5%, the slowest rate of expansion since 1991.

Chinese officials were planning to hold a symposium with large tech companies, raising expectations the government, led by President Xi Jinping, will pull back on its sweeping clampdown on the sector, the South China Morning Post reported Friday, citing two unnamed sources.