The stock of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) surged 5.12% during Friday's trading session, as China's largest chipmaker made headway in its chipmaking capabilities despite U.S. efforts to restrict the flow of advanced chip technologies to the country.

Investors appear optimistic about SMIC's potential to overcome U.S. export controls and continue advancing its chipmaking progress. Recent reports highlighted SMIC's achievements, such as mass-producing a 7-nanometer chip for Huawei's 2023 smartphone and exploring workarounds like chip clustering and algorithm tweaks to maximize efficiency.

While SMIC still lags behind industry leaders like TSMC in cutting-edge manufacturing, analysts expect the company to keep chipping away at the gap with substantial government support and continued innovation. As China doubles down on developing its semiconductor and AI capabilities, SMIC's progress could be a crucial piece of the puzzle.