Mainland Flows Bolster Hong Kong AI IPO Outlook as Fundraising Doubles

Chinese AI supply-chain companies can keep seeking Hong Kong IPOs despite weaker data-center valuations in the United States, Citi’s head of China investment banking, Simon Yuan, said, pointing to demand from mainland and overseas buyers.

Yuan described the buyer mix for Hong Kong listings as close to even between mainland Chinese and international investors. He also pointed to rising capital flows from mainland China into Hong Kong as a key source of buying. He made the comments on the sidelines of International Monetary Fund meetings in Bangkok.

The market’s recent issuance totals provide the scale of its activity. Hong Kong recorded 118 newly listed companies in the first nine months of 2026, compared with 69 during the same period of 2025. IPO fundraising reached HK$388.032 billion, up from HK$188.266 billion, an increase of 106.1%.

The listing count includes two transfers from the GEM market to the Main Board. The first nine months of 2025 included one such transfer and a de-SPAC transaction. Both periods therefore include activity beyond conventional IPOs by new companies.

AI fundraising covers a separate interval. From December 2025 through May 2026, companies across the AI value chain raised HK$97.9 billion through Hong Kong IPOs, about 55% of total fundraising during those months. That six-month window crosses the end of 2025 and start of 2026, so its share is distinct from the first-nine-month figures above.

The AI value chain includes infrastructure such as chips, semiconductors, sensors and hardware, as well as models and applications. Yuan said hardware suppliers benefited from the AI infrastructure boom through higher sales volumes and per-unit prices.

For 2027, Yuan expects Hong Kong equity-capital markets to shift attention from hardware suppliers toward Chinese AI model developers and application companies. He said prospective issuers in those areas need “a proven business model” and “very strong growth and profitability.”

Yuan also warned that a turn in the U.S. AI cycle could affect Hong Kong and other markets. His outlook for a broader mix of AI issuers in 2027 comes with a clear condition: those companies must demonstrate the business performance he described.