25th February 2025 – (Hong Kong) A surge of Chinese companies is setting their sights on initial public offerings (IPOs) in Hong Kong, motivated by the recent stock market momentum generated by AI start-up DeepSeek.
AICT, a Beijing-based AI solutions provider, plans to raise approximately US$200 million from its upcoming IPO in Hong Kong, according to sources familiar with the situation. On 24th January, AICT announced it had signed a “1+3” strategic cooperation agreement with the University of Hong Kong’s Multimedia Laboratory, the Green, FinTech, and Property Technology Laboratory, and the Future Urban and Sustainable Environment Laboratory. This collaboration aims to advance cutting-edge High-Accuracy Artificial Intelligence (HAI) technologies in smart cities and intelligent transportation.
Founded in 2015, AICT specializes in HAI technology and its applications in areas such as perception robots, intelligent traffic signals, smart roads, autonomous driving, integrated vehicle-road-cloud systems, low-altitude urban transportation, and spatial intelligence. The partnership leverages HKU’s strengths in computer science, AI, big data, and data science, combined with AICT’s expertise in advanced AI research, project implementation, and practical deployment. Both parties aim to integrate academia and industry, driving the high-level application of advanced HAI technologies.
The deal is being sponsored by Citic Securities and CCB International, as indicated by those who spoke on the condition of anonymity. AICT, which counts smartphone and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Xiaomi and venture capital firm Gaorong Capital among its strategic investors, also intends to pursue a listing in Shanghai following its Hong Kong debut.
Industry experts suggest that the evolving perception of AI development in China, coupled with a supportive regulatory environment, could encourage more Chinese tech firms to explore IPOs in Hong Kong. The collaboration also aims to foster deep exchanges between academia and industry, with AICT providing opportunities for HKU students to gain hands-on project experience, bridging theoretical knowledge and real-world problem-solving skills. Notably, the partnership will jointly apply for Hong Kong government projects in smart city and intelligent transportation initiatives.
