Six Chinese companies started trading in Hong Kong on Tuesday after pulling in about HK$6.99 billion, or $900 million. Most of them saw their stock prices rise above what they sold for initially on their first trading day, wrapping up what turned out to be a really strong year for new listings in the city. Investors seem more confident now about tech companies, thanks to some regulatory changes and plenty of cash flowing into the market. People in the industry think this could set the pace for 2026, with Hong Kong getting back its spot as a top place for companies to list their shares in Asia. Recent analysis shows that Asia Pacific tech dealmaking is expected to hit four-year highs, with Hong Kong leading the charge. Best year since 2021 Hong Kong raised around $75 billion this year from equity offerings, which include new listings and companies selling more shares. That’s more than triple what came in during 2024 and the best it’s been since 2021, according to LSEG data. Five out of the six new companies opened above their IPO prices and pretty much stayed there through the day without wild swings. Opening day gains for most debuts “This year’s actually been the best we’ve had since Ant’s IPO got pulled,” said George Au, deputy sales director at Phillip Securities. He said a few things helped—a boom in margin loans, successful debuts from companies like Mixue (2097.HK) and CATL, and new allocation rules that came in August to limit the retail frenzy. InSilico Medicine Cayman TopCo (3696.HK), which uses AI to discover drugs, opened about 45% higher. Beijing 51WORLD Digital Twin Technology (6651.HK), a software company, started nearly 15% up. USAS Building System (2671.HK) , which makes industrial steel structures, climbed more than 15% at opening. Shanghai Forest Cabin Cosmetics Group (2657.HK), selling premium skincare, rose about 9%. Shenzhen Xunce Technology (3317.HK) and OneRobotics (6600.HK) both opened flat. “The market atmosphere is still pretty decent heading into year end. I don’t think we’re seeing any real cool winds or that people don’t want to get in. If anything, investors are just being a bit more careful, more rational about it,” Au said. He added that Shanghai Biren Technology (6082.HK) is the next one to watch. It debuts on January 2 and might show where things are headed for 2026. Three more firms join the pipeline Three more Chinese firms announced Hong Kong share sales on Tuesday, adding over HK$9 billion to what’s coming up. Knowledge Atlas Technology Joint Stock Co, or Zhipu AI, is selling 37.42 million H-shares at HK$116.20 each to raise HK$4.35 billion. Chipmaker Shanghai Iluvatar CoreX Semiconductor is offering 25.4 million shares at HK$144.60 for HK$3.67 billion. Shenzhen Edge Medical, which makes surgical robotics, plans to sell 27.72 million shares at HK$43.24 each to raise about HK$1.2 billion. All three start trading on January 8. Tuesday’s six debuts and three new launches show Hong Kong is back as an IPO hub. More than 300 companies have filed to list, so this momentum looks like it’ll carry into 2026. Besides Biren Technology’s debut early next year, AI player MiniMax Group is also waiting in the pipeline. Sign up to Bybit and start trading with $30,050 in welcome gifts
