China stocks dip ahead of Xi-Trump call; see biggest weekly loss since April

By Jiaxing Li

HONG KONG, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Chinese stocks weakened in choppy trading on Friday, as some investors took profit while awaiting planned talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump.

** The Shanghai Composite index .SSEC lost 0.3% to 3,820.09 points at market close, pulling back from a 10-year high. The benchmark index declined 1.3% this week, its worst performance since early April.

** China's blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 rose 0.1%, ending the week 0.4% lower.

** The banking sector index .CSI399986 and insurance sector .CSI399809 led the losses for the week, down 4.2% and 4.4% respectively.

** The semiconductor index .CSI931865 registered a 6.5% weekly gain as fresh optimism over China's artificial intelligence developments continued to lift the sector.

** Local chipmaker SMIC 688981.SS and peer Hua Hong 688347.SS rose 12% and 11% respectively for the week, as Huawei outlined chip and computing power plans, while China redirected its regulatory focus to Nvidia as leverage in the U.S. trade talks.

** Sentiment was cautious ahead of the scheduled high-level call between Xi and Trump later in the day, with discussions expected to cover the TikTok deal and tariffs.

** "There is objectively some profit-taking pressure after the market's rapid short-term gains," analysts at Changjiang Securities said.

** Still, the view that China's market is poised for a "slow bull" run remains intact, with more long-term capital and household savings entering the market, they added.

** "We continue to expect stronger fund inflows into Chinese equities in the second half of the year, in line with our recent U.S. marketing trip, which saw the highest level of investor interest in China since 2021," Morgan Stanley said.

** Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI strengthened 0.6% for the week, the third straight week of gains.

** The Hang Seng Tech index .HSTECH ended the week 5.1% higher to a fresh four-year high.