Since the beginning of this year, the total funds raised through Hong Kong stock IPOs have exceeded 100 billion Hong Kong dollars.

Tian Peng, from our reporter

Wind Information data shows (all data in full are sourced), that on just two working days, April 1 and April 2, there were 7 and 14 companies, respectively, that submitted IPO applications and updated prospectuses to the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), with the market’s filing pace staying at a high level.

In fact, since the beginning of this year, the Hong Kong stock IPO market has remained active. As of now, a total of 40 companies (39 on the Main Board, 1 on the GEM) in the Hong Kong market have completed their IPOs, up 150% from 16 in the same period last year; total funds raised reached HKD 109.93B, up 488.81% year over year. Not only does the fundraising scale significantly exceed the total amounts in all of 2023 and 2024, it has also hit a new high since the second quarter of 2021. Among them, the information technology industry has become the absolute mainstay of IPOs, with its share of fundraising amount accounting for nearly 70%.

Experts interviewed by the Securities Daily said that the sustained activity of the Hong Kong stock IPO market is the result of multiple factors resonating together, including institutional reforms, liquidity repair, and the concentrated release of high-quality supply. On the one hand, HKEX policy dividends have continued to be released, significantly reducing the time costs and uncertainties for hard-tech companies to list in Hong Kong; on the other hand, the return of international capital combined with strong financing demand from mainland enterprises jointly injects ample liquidity into the market. Looking ahead, as HKEX continues to optimize the listing mechanisms and there is sufficient preparation for queued listing companies, the warmth of the Hong Kong stock IPO market is expected to continue.

The three major trends are becoming clearer

While growth in scale has been significant, the Hong Kong stock IPO market is showing three clear trends.

First, the technology attributes have become markedly stronger, and new-economy businesses have become the absolute mainstay. Data show that among the 40 companies that have completed Hong Kong stock IPOs, there are 8, 7, and 7 companies in the semiconductor, software services, and industrial engineering sectors, respectively. Frontier technology sub-sectors such as algorithm vision and robotics have seen dense listings of companies.

In particular, new-economy companies have been actively courted by market funds. Data show that among the top 10 companies by share-price increase among newly listed stocks in Hong Kong this year, 7 are companies in the information technology sector. In this regard, Fu Yifu, a special research fellow at the SuShang Bank, told the Securities Daily reporter that the new economy has become the absolute mainstay. This not only reflects that China’s hard-tech and frontier-tech tracks have entered the critical stage of industrialization, but also体现了 HKEX’s advantage in its inclusiveness toward unprofitable technology companies. The fact that related companies are being strongly favored by funds indicates that institutional funds are shifting from “valuation repair” to “growth-driven,” and that they highly recognize the long-term value of technology companies.

Second, fundraising volumes have leapt significantly, and large-size IPOs have returned as a norm. Compared with the pattern in prior years, which was clearly dominated by the issuance of small- and mid-cap market values, since 2026 the single-transaction fundraising scale of Hong Kong stock IPOs has increased markedly. Multiple industry leaders and leaders in niche tracks have been listed one after another. For example, the two companies Muyuan Food Co., Ltd. and Dongpeng Beverage (Group) Co., Ltd. each raised more than HKD 10 billion, reaching HKD 12.1B and HKD 11.099 billion, respectively; in addition, 7 companies have raised over HKD 5 billion.

Third, coordination between “A+H” is deepening, and related cases are emerging in clusters. As capital-market interconnection and mutual access mechanisms continue to improve, more and more mainland enterprises in the growth and maturity stages take Hong Kong as an important platform to achieve internationalized financing, enhance brand influence, and introduce international high-quality capital. The “A+H” two-market listing model is increasingly favored. Data show that among the aforementioned 40 companies that have completed Hong Kong stock IPOs, 15 are also already listed on the A-share market, accounting for 37.5%.

Guo Tao, Deputy Director of the China E-Commerce Expert Service Center, said that when A-share listed companies list in Hong Kong, it not only effectively expands companies’ diversified financing channels and breaks the limitation of financing confined to a single market, but also helps companies connect with global capital markets and enhance their ability for global pricing as well as their international brand influence. Meanwhile, the addition of such companies further enriches the types of companies and industry structure in the Hong Kong stock market, continuously attracts Southbound funds to flow in steadily, and gradually forms a positive market ecosystem of “domestic capital providing value support, and foreign capital contributing market liquidity.”

Heat for the full year is expected to continue

In fact, this round of strong recovery in the Hong Kong stock IPO market is not driven by a single factor. It is the result of the resonance of three elements: institutional reform, liquidity repair, and the concentrated release of supply of high-quality companies.

In Fu Yifu’s view, first, mainland enterprises have strong financing needs. As Hong Kong is a highly internationalized financing platform, it provides mainland enterprises with efficient and convenient listing channels. Second, HKEX has continuously optimized its listing system in recent years, steadily attracting new-economy companies to list in Hong Kong, effectively enhancing market vitality and appeal. Finally, the global liquidity environment is relatively loose, and international capital has significantly strengthened its willingness to allocate to the Hong Kong stock market.

Looking ahead, interviewed experts predict that the high level of market interest in Hong Kong stock IPOs is expected to run through all of 2026. On the one hand, the dividend of HKEX’s listing system reform is still continuing to be released. Especially this year, HKEX has introduced multiple policy tailwinds, further lowering listing thresholds, optimizing procedures, and enhancing attractiveness.

For example, the “Main Board Listing Rules” that were officially amended and took effect on January 1 clearly introduce an alternative threshold for the requirement of ongoing public shareholding, providing greater flexibility for issuers with a sufficiently large market value based on public shareholding, so that they can conduct capital-management-related transactions and so on; the first-stage consultation document of the “Review of Listing Mechanism Competitiveness” issued on March 13 (consultation until May 8) includes core reforms such as significantly lowering the listing threshold for different-share-for-different-voting (WVR), fully opening the confidential draft filing mechanism to all IPO applicants, lowering the secondary listing threshold for Cayman/China concept shares, optimizing the review process and strengthening intermediary responsibilities, as well as establishing a fast-track review channel for 18A/18C technology companies and lowering the initial public shareholding requirement for “A+H.” This comprehensively enhances listing attractiveness and efficiency.

On the other hand, the Hong Kong market has ample reserves of high-quality companies, providing solid support for continued expansion of IPO supply. Data show that as of now, 387 companies in the Hong Kong market are still in the review stage, and 9 companies have already successfully passed their hearings and are expected to list in Hong Kong, covering multiple high-interest sectors such as hard technology, new consumption, biomedical and healthcare, and advanced manufacturing.

Guo Tao said that more new-economy companies listing in Hong Kong in a dense manner will continue to drive the Hong Kong stock market’s structure to accelerate its transition toward technology and new-economy orientation. It will also continue to consolidate Hong Kong’s position as one of the preferred listing destinations for international innovation and technology enterprises, injecting enduring momentum into the long-term healthy development of the Hong Kong stock IPO market.