(Yicai Global) Nov. 23 -- US stocks have been hitting new highs this year, with top tech firms rising as much as 60 percent, but China's internet giants have also seen substantial gains, with the combined increase in the value of the 'big three' around USD590 billion, more than Amazon.com Inc.'s USD550-billion market cap.

The values of Baidu Inc. [NASDAQ:BIDU], Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. [NYSE:BABA] and Tencent Holdings Ltd. [HKG:0700] have soared 50 percent (USD30 billion), 117 percent (USD260 billion) and 127 percent (USD300 billion), respectively, this year to date.

The MSCI China Information Technology Index rose 56 percent on the year in August, more than doubling the 23-percent gain in the S&P 500 Technology Index. E-commerce and social networking shares saw the biggest leaps, with stock in JD.com Inc. [NASDAQ:JD] soaring 56 percent so far this year and social media platform Momo Inc. [NASDAQ:MOMO] up nearly 80 percent.

"The capital markets had two investment highlights this year, with technology stocks and those involved in globalization outperforming the market," said Lise Buyer, founding partner of Class V Group and an experienced Wall Street advisor, told Yicai Global. "Chinese tech stocks boast both advantages, which is partly attributable to a growing Chinese economy. Almost all major technology funds have key investments in Tencent and Alibaba."

Alibaba accumulated CNY168.2 billion (USD25.48 billion) in sales during this year's Singles' Day shopping festival on Nov. 11. US online sales on Black Friday last year were just USD2 billion, less than 10 percent of the Chinese e-commerce giant's Singles' Day sales, according to Adobe System, which tracks e-commerce consumption.

"Ample cash in China and the development of e-commerce driven by consumption contributed to the rally of overseas-listed Chinese firms," David Russell, senior manager at online broker E-Trade, told Yicai Global.