Moore Threads, MetaX, and Biren Technology have collectively raised billions as investor appetite for domestic semiconductor plays reaches fever pitch
China’s AI and semiconductor companies are staging a comeback in the IPO market. A string of blockbuster listings on the Shanghai STAR Market and Hong Kong Exchange have delivered first-day gains that look more like meme stock rallies than traditional tech IPOs.
The numbers are genuinely staggering. Moore Threads Technology raised roughly $1.1B during its Shanghai IPO in December 2025, with shares surging over 400% on their first day of trading. MetaX Integrated Circuits, which debuted on the same exchange in mid-December, somehow outdid that with a nearly 700% pop on day one, accompanied by thousands-fold oversubscription from eager investors.
A January to remember #
In January 2026, six Chinese AI and chip firms listed in Hong Kong alone, collectively raising $3.6B. That single month’s haul was nearly 60% more than all Hong Kong IPOs combined during the first quarter of 2025.
Biren Technology took center stage among those January debuts. The AI chip designer raised HK$5.58B, approximately $717M, when it began trading on January 2, 2026. Shares closed up 76% on the first day after touching an intraday high of 119% above the offer price.
Retail subscription for Biren’s listing exceeded 2,300 times. That means for every share available to individual investors, there were 2,300 people trying to buy it.
Geopolitics as a growth catalyst #
Heightened US export restrictions targeting China’s access to advanced semiconductor technology have created a forced entrepreneurial boom. China’s push for tech self-sufficiency has turned homegrown chip and AI companies into national champions of sorts, funneling both policy support and investor enthusiasm toward these firms.
The pipeline of upcoming IPO candidates includes robotics company Unitree, memory chip manufacturers CXMT and YMTC, and Baidu’s Kunlunxin chip unit, which has an estimated valuation of roughly $3B.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our