The flurry of fund-raising by Chinese mainland technology companies in Hong Kong is ramping up, as growing market confidence and attractive valuation boosts the city’s attractiveness as a listing destination.
Shanghai-based artificial intelligence large language model company Minimax Group Inc started trading its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Friday and finished at HK$345 ($44.2) apiece, soaring 109 percent compared to its offering price of HK$165.
As of Friday, Knowledge Atlas Technology Joint Stock Company (Zhipu), the first initial public offering (IPO) of a large AI model developer globally, swelled 36 percent compared to its listing price of HK$116.2 on Thursday.
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Mainland chip maker Iluvatar CoreX Semiconductor and Biren Technology also listed their shares in Hong Kong recently. The former hiked 10.9 percent while the latter gained 1.3 percent on Friday.
Global auditing services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) expects the Hong Kong IPO market in 2026 will be even more favorable, citing more diversified market development driven by falling interest rates and favorable government policies.
PwC predicted approximately 150 companies will successfully list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this year, raising between HK$320 billion to HK$350 billion. New economy companies (18C innovative companies and 18A biotech companies) as well as retail, consumer and services companies are expected to contribute the bulk of IPO deals.
“The Hong Kong IPO market is expected to maintain its promising performance and exhibit a trend toward diversified development, supported by listings of high-end manufacturing and technology companies,” said PwC Hong Kong Capital Markets Leader Eddie Wong.
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“Despite uncertainties in the global geopolitical landscape, the demand for international financing by Chinese mainland enterprises and investors’ interest in high-quality mainland companies remain strong,” Wong added.
“Hong Kong had a stellar result in 2025, reclaiming the global IPO crown and demonstrating the positive impact and fruits of many reforms undertaken by Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing and the Securities & Futures Commissions in the last few years, in particular the streamlined listing review process, the specialist technology listing regime, the Technology Enterprises Channel, the shortening of IPO settlement and the new IPO price discovery mechanism," said Robert Lui, Southern Region Offering Services leader at Deloitte China’s Capital Market Services Group.
Boosted by eight mega IPOs including four of the world’s largest, Hong Kong Stock Exchange claimed the first IPO position in terms of fund-raising amount in 2025, followed by US Nasdaq and National Stock Exchange of India, Deloitte China said.
