China tech IPOs rebound as Beijing backs chipmakers and AI firms

Chinese technology companies raised $3.1 billion from mainland stock listings through June 18, putting the sector on course for its strongest year since 2023. Nearly 50 companies had filed for IPOs in Shanghai and Shenzhen, with planned fundraising of at least 126.1 billion yuan, a sign that the rebound is broadening beyond a single deal.

The recovery looks even starker against the last three years of mainland tech fundraising. LSEG-based figures show proceeds fell to $2.7 billion in 2024 from $15.7 billion in 2023, before rising to $3.6 billion in 2025. That sequence captures how sharply the market cooled after the 2023 peak and how quickly it has come back as regulators reopened the door for strategic sectors.

The biggest name in the pipeline is ChangXin Memory Technologies, which is planning a 29.5 billion yuan Shanghai IPO that would be the largest listing of the year. The Shanghai Stock Exchange approved CXMT’s listing review on May 27, leaving only the China Securities Regulatory Commission registration step before the deal can proceed. If completed, the listing would lift total IPO value to a three-year high and give China a domestic funding route for one of its most important memory-chip makers.

The policy signal is explicit. China’s 2026 government work agenda says the country will nurture future industries including future energy, quantum technology, embodied artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfaces and 6G technology. On June 17, the Shanghai Stock Exchange issued guidance for the STAR Market’s fifth listing standard for artificial intelligence large-model enterprises, designed to support early-stage companies that need long-term research and development capital before they reach large revenue scale.

That state backing suggests the rebound is not just a market-cycle story, but part of Beijing’s effort to direct capital toward industrial self-reliance as tensions with the United States reshape access to advanced chips and AI hardware. The revival is also restoring an exit path for private equity and venture capital investors after a long slowdown, something Davis Polk Asia co-head Li He said had been missing for the funds that backed these companies. Mainland support for qualified Hong Kong-listed companies seeking domestic listings could also widen market access and improve liquidity, deepening the financing pool for Chinese tech firms.