Why Chinese Big Fish Are Rushing to Hong Kong

Hang Seng Index Surges 20% This Year

CATL, Tsinghua Unigroup and Others Pursuing Listings

Chinese mainland companies are increasingly knocking on the doors of the Hong Kong stock market. This comes as the Hong Kong market, which had been stagnant for several years, is showing a boom this year.

According to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the renowned Chinese semiconductor company Tsinghua Unigroup (Zhiguang Group) recently announced that it is preparing for a Hong Kong listing to expand its overseas business and enhance its brand image. There are expectations that it could raise about $1 billion through the listing. Tsinghua Unigroup is already listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The world's largest battery manufacturer CATL, global 11th-ranked Chery Automobile, and well-known beverage company Dongfeng Beverage are also waiting to be listed in Hong Kong. Chinese companies are pursuing Hong Kong listings one after another due to abundant global liquidity. The market atmosphere improved further after DeepSeek, known as "value-for-money artificial intelligence (AI)," was released in January. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index has surged about 20% this year alone.

The IPO investment fever in Hong Kong is also hot. The share price of beverage company Mixue Group, which went public on the 3rd, jumped 90% compared to its offering price. The share prices of Horizon Robotics and cosmetics company Mao Geping, which were listed last year, also surged by 90% and 70% respectively. Local observers predict that this year's Hong Kong IPO market will be nearly three times larger than last year. Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan said, "The expected IPO fundraising this year is up to $20 billion." If realized, this would be 2.6 times larger than last year ($11 billion).

Reporter Jo Ara rrang123@hankyung.com