Chinese tech companies, led by Zhipu AI, climb in Hong Kong debut
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Chinese tech companies, led by Zhipu AI, climb in Hong Kong debut
05 mins
Three tech IPOs raised roughly HK$9.2 billion
Hong Kong raised $37.22 billion from 115 listings in 2025 – LSEG data
MiniMax, OmniVision scheduled to debut on January 9
SINGAPORE, Jan 8 (Reuters) – Three Chinese technology firms debuted higher on Thursday after raising a combined HK$9.3 billion ($1.19 billion), setting the tone for what investors hope will be a busier year for new listings in Hong Kong.
All of the debutants traded above their offer prices. Artificial intelligence company Zhipu AI, also known as Knowledge Atlas Technology (2513.HK), opens new tab, opened 3.3% higher than its offer price of HK$116.20 apiece and traded around HK$116.40.
Shanghai Iluvatar CoreX (9903.HK), opens new tab, a semiconductor firm, started 31.6% higher than the offer price of HK$144.60, and changed hands at around HK$169.40.
Surgical robotics company Shenzhen Edge Medical (2675.HK), opens new tab jumped 36.4% above the HK$43.24 offer price, and traded at around HK$ 55.50.
The debuts come as Chinese authorities fast-track AI and chip listings to strengthen domestic alternatives to advanced U.S. technology, a backdrop that has drawn issuers across the tech sectors.
Huawei’s AI server spin-off xFusion has hired Citic Securities in preparation for a mainland IPO, while memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies and Baidu’s AI chip arm Kunlunxin are planning listings too, Reuters has reported.
Zhipu AI, spun out of Tsinghua University, raised HK$4.35 billion at HK$116.20, giving it a valuation near HK$51 billion.
It plans to use the bulk of proceeds for research and development. Cornerstone investors included JSC International Investment Fund and JinYi Capital Multi-Strategy Fund, among others.
Shanghai Iluvatar CoreX (9903.HK), opens new tab, a designer of general-purpose GPUs, raised HK$3.48 billion. Its offer price gave it a market capitalisation near HK$36.8 billion. It earmarked the bulk of its proceeds for R&D across chips, accelerators and software.
Shenzhen Edge Medical raised about HK$1.12 billion, which will fund its R&D, commercialization, manufacturing capacity and strategic acquisitions, among others.
Its cornerstone investors include Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, OrbiMed, UBS AM Singapore and Tencent’s Huang River.
The trio’s performance on Thursday will also help gauge whether Hong Kong can extend last year’s IPO resurgence, with $37.2 billion raised from 115 new listings, the strongest since 2021, according to LSEG data as of January 5.
The debut pipeline is growing, with MiniMax Group (0100.HK), opens new tab, another Chinese AI firm, and chipmaker OmniVision Integrated Circuits, due to start trading on Friday.
Reporting by Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; Additional reporting by Shen Yiming in Shanghai; Editing by Christopher Cushing
Yantoultra Ngui is the Southeast Asia Deals Correspondent of Reuters in Singapore, covering M&A and capital market activities in a region that is fast emerging as one of the world’s biggest economies. He previously was a reporter at Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Notably, he was part of WSJ’s team that covered the financial scandal at Malaysian state fund 1MDB, and that won SOPA Excellence in Breaking News award for the coverage of the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, in Malaysia in 2018. Yantoultra graduated with an MBA in Finance from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) in 2010.
