The Tamesis
China’s artificial intelligence chip market continued to draw attention on Friday, with shares of local artificial intelligence chip design companies rising. Shanghai Biren Technology On its debut in Hong Kong, the stock price soared 76%.
When this financial center first went public in 2026, Biren’s share price opened at HK$35.70, then hit an intraday high of HK$42.88, and closed at HK$34.46, a 76% increase from the IPO price of HK$19.60.
Meanwhile, the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 2.8%. Reuters said Biren was the third most actively traded stock on the Hong Kong exchange by volume, with 150.7 million shares worth HK$5.52 billion ($707.7 million) changing hands.
See also: China now requires chipmakers to use at least 50% local equipment
Biren’s strong debut comes on the heels of a blockbuster year for Hong Kong stocks in 2025, and heralds a wave of chips and artificial intelligence products this year as China accelerates efforts to bolster domestic alternatives in response US restricts technology exports.
“Chinese AI startups are getting to market faster than U.S. giants, thanks to supportive domestic policiesWinston Ma, an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law and former head of North America for China’s sovereign wealth fund CIC, said:
The boom in artificial intelligence products
Li He, a partner at law firm Davis Polk who has been involved in several AI IPOs including Biren, said the craze for AI products reflects investors’ beliefs and issuers’ necessity.
“Artificial intelligence is fundamentally transformative and has sparked strong interest from investors,” Li said.
Biren raised HK$5.58 billion (US$717 million) by selling 284.8 million H shares at a price of HK$19.60 per share, the highest price in the market price range.
Institutional demand was almost 26 times of the shares issued, while the retail portion was oversubscribed about 2,348 times, exchange filings showed.
Based on the offer price, Biren’s market capitalization is HK$46.9 billion, based on 2.396 billion outstanding shares.
Founded in 2019, Biren is committed to developing general-purpose graphics processing units (GPUs) and intelligent computing systems for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.
Its co-founders include Zhang Wen, the former president of SenseTime, and Jiao Guofang, who has worked at Qualcomm and Huawei.
The company first attracted attention in 2022 with its BR100 chip, known as a domestic rival to U.S. artificial intelligence leader Nvidia’s advanced processors.
The IPO prospectus shows that Biren will use most of the IPO proceeds for research and development and commercialization.
More artificial intelligence startups, chip manufacturers are about to go public
The prospectus flagged risks from U.S. export controls after the group was added to Washington’s Entity List in October 2023, which restricted its access to certain technologies.
It also mentioned competition and highlighted opportunities arising from China’s push for technological self-sufficiency and policy support.
The prospectus shows that cornerstone investors include 3W Fund, Qiming Venture Partners and Ping An Life.
“Its successful listing not only marks a critical stage in the company’s development, but also marks China’s technology entrepreneurship entering a new stage with original innovation as its core,” Zhou Qiang, managing partner of Qiming Venture Partners, said in a statement on Friday.
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) year-end data showed that 114 newly listed companies in Hong Kong raised a whopping $36.5 billion in 2025, the city’s highest level since 2021 and more than three times the previous year.
The comeback has been fueled by a wave of artificial intelligence and semiconductor IPOs, which are widely expected to drive deal volumes in 2026.
Hong Kong Stock Exchange filings show that seven companies submitted A1 applications on January 1. One of them is xTool Innovate, which submitted an application for a mainboard listing and appointed Morgan Stanley and Huatai Financial Holdings as overall coordinators.
In addition, China’s Internet search leader Baidu said on Friday that its artificial intelligence chip unit Kunlun Core has submitted an application for a Hong Kong IPO.confirming a Reuters report in early December.
Hong Kong’s IPO pipeline includes artificial intelligence startups and chip manufacturers, with Chipu AI and Iluvatar CoreX set to debut on January 8 next year.
Jack Ma said: “Is Hong Kong’s artificial intelligence IPO boom sustainable? This depends on whether global IPO investors such as Middle East sovereign wealth funds are willing to accept the shift in global artificial intelligence dominance and prioritize immediate corporate integration over long-term AGI research.”
- Reuters Additional editing by Jim Pollard
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