Chinese tech firms raise $17 billion in Hong Kong as IPO boom fuels AI and chip expansion

From robotaxi developers to AI startups and chipmakers, Chinese technology firms are flocking to Hong Kong's booming capital markets, raising a combined HK$136.23 billion ($17.38 billion) this year to fund expansion in artificial intelligence, semiconductors and advanced manufacturing. Here are some of the major companies that have recently listed or sold shares in the city: CATL The world's largest electric vehicle battery maker launched a roughly HK$39.2 billion ($5.00 billion) share sale in April, less than a year after its blockbuster Hong Kong listing. CATL, whose customers include Tesla, BMW, Volkswagen, Xiaomi and Nio, priced 62.4 million new H shares at HK$628.20 each. Chaozhou Three-Circle The electronic ceramic materials maker priced a share offering at the top end of its marketed range to raise about HK$7.16 billion. Dajin Heavy Industry In June, the wind power equipment maker set the offer price for its Hong Kong listing at HK$66.40 a share, aiming to raise HK$5.77 billion. Shenzhen-listed Dajin said it plans to use 55% of the proceeds to enhance deep-sea wind power services and 20% to fund the construction of an assembly and operations facility in Europe. GigaDevice Semiconductor GigaDevice Semiconductor raised HK$4.68 billion in a Hong Kong listing in early January, with plans to use the proceeds for research and development as well as strategic and industry investment, including potential acquisitions. Its shares soared almost 40% in their Hong Kong trading debut on January 13. Huaqin The smart device maker raised HK$4.6 billion in a Hong Kong share offering in April. The firm designs and manufactures electronic products for major technology brands, including smartphones, laptops, servers, smart home devices and wearables. Its shares climbed 17% in their Hong Kong debut. Lingyi iTech The Apple supplier priced its Hong Kong initial public offering to raise about HK$8.3 billion, seeking to use part of the proceeds to expand AI capacity. Founded in 2006 by billionaire Zeng Fangqin, the company supplies parts for smartphones, tablets and laptop computers, and counts Huawei Technologies and Samsung Electronics among its customers. Minimax Group MiniMax Group raised HK$4.82 billion in its Hong Kong IPO after pricing shares at HK$165 each, the top end of the marketed range. The company, one of China's first large-language model developers to seek a listing, sold 29.2 million shares in the IPO at the top end of its marketed range. MiniMax, founded in early 2022 by former SenseTime executive Yan Junjie, develops multimodal AI models that can generate text, audio, images, video and music. Momenta Global The Mercedes-Benz-backed robotaxi firm raised about HK$5.89 billion in a Hong Kong listing, though shares debuted flat amid caution around AI and other tech stocks. Momenta, which provides assisted-driving solutions to automakers, including Toyota Motor and BYD, was founded in 2016 by former Microsoft researcher Cao Xudong. Montage Technology Montage Technology raised HK$7.04 billion in a share sale in February to fund research, commercialisation, strategic investment or acquisitions and working capital, its prospectus showed. The semiconductor designer's offering attracted 17 cornerstone investors, including JPMorgan Asset Management, UBS Asset Management and Yunfeng Capital. Founded in 2004, Montage designs integrated circuits that help speed data movement in servers and data centres. Nexchip Semiconductor The partially state-owned chipmaker priced an offering at the top end of its marketed range, aiming to raise around HK$6.98 billion. The company plans to spend over HK$3.5 billion from the proceeds on research and development, and another HK$1.5 billion on AI-powered systems to integrate research, development and production processes. OmniVision Integrated Circuits OmniVision Integrated Circuits raised HK$4.80 billion in its Hong Kong listing in early January and plans to allocate about 70% of the proceeds to research and development. The firm is the third-largest digital image sensor provider globally, with a 13.7% market share based on revenue from digital imaging solutions in 2024, it said in its Hong Kong listing prospectus, citing research and consultancy firm Frost & Sullivan. Shanghai Biren Technology AI chip startup Shanghai Biren Technology raised HK$5.58 billion in its Hong Kong listing in December, with most of the proceeds earmarked for research and development and commercialisation. Founded in 2019, Biren's co-founders include Zhang Wen, formerly the president of AI face-recognition company SenseTime , and Jiao Guofang, who previously worked at Huawei and Qualcomm. Knowledge Atlas Technology JSC, known as Zhipu AI Zhipu launched a HK$31.41 billion share sale in Hong Kong, showed a term sheet seen by Reuters. The firm is one of China's best-known AI model developers and is viewed by investors as a fast-rising challenger to U.S. firms such as OpenAI, helped by strong demand