Chinese Tech Firms Turn to Hong Kong for Capital, Testing and Global Expansion

76 Mainland Listings Mark a Shift Toward Hong Kong

Seventy-six mainland Chinese companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2025, up 153% from 30 in 2024, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Across the entire market, 119 new listings raised HK$286.9 billion, more than three times the previous year's total. Hong Kong became the world's largest market for initial public offerings for the first time since 2019.

Those figures describe two related developments: mainland companies are increasingly choosing Hong Kong, and the city's wider market for new share listings has recovered. An initial public offering, or IPO, is when a company first sells its shares to public investors. For Chinese technology businesses, Hong Kong offers access to international money as expansion into the United States and Europe becomes more difficult.

Western governments have grown wary of Chinese firms because of concerns about state-backed espionage, access to data and Chinese dominance in critical technologies. Companies facing what is often called "China risk" are consequently seeking customers, capital and international credibility through Hong Kong.

Invest Hong Kong, the territory's investment promotion agency, also reports growth in mainland companies establishing physical operations in the city. Innovation and technology are among the largest sectors. The shift extends beyond share sales to laboratories, offices, product testing and services that help businesses enter overseas markets.

Chinese authorities are accelerating artificial intelligence and semiconductor listings to strengthen domestic alternatives to advanced US technology. The pipeline includes memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies, Baidu's AI chip business Kunlunxin and autonomous driving company DeepRoute.ai.

As of March 30, 2026, the strategy has a practical shape: raise money in Hong Kong, demonstrate that products work in international business settings, and use the city to prepare expansion into Southeast Asia, the Middle East and other markets.

A Hotel Robot Shows the Strategy in Action

Yunji's delivery robot illustrates why a company might want more than a Hong Kong stock listing. In a hotel lobby on Hong Kong Island, the machine pauses outside an elevator while a guest steps out, then enters when the way is clear.

The maneuver looks simple, but the robot has to manage a busy environment that does not stop for it. At the hotel, owned by an international chain, it navigates crowded spaces, operates lifts independently, chooses the right floor and finds the designated room without human intervention.

Xie Yunpeng, Yunji's vice-president, describes Hong Kong as the first stage of a wider expansion:

We aim to make our product succeed in Hong Kong, and then expand outward,

Yunji builds service robots for hotels, hospitals and factories. Its Hong Kong listing in October 2025 was intended to broaden its investor base beyond the mainland while helping it demonstrate its machines in international settings.

A successful hotel deployment gives prospective customers something concrete to assess: whether the robot can operate around people, use existing building equipment and complete a delivery. Hong Kong becomes a place to test both the engineering and the business before taking the product elsewhere.

Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at French investment bank Natixis, explains that Hong Kong gives mainland companies an opportunity to demonstrate compliance with international standards and build confidence among investors and clients. Its common law legal system, intellectual property protections and business environment using English contribute to that appeal.

Wendy Chang of the Mercator Institute for China Studies says Hong Kong is positioning itself as a connector between Chinese companies and the outside world. Policies that speed up share flotations and help mainland firms establish operations support that role.

AI and Chip Debuts Draw Global Investors

Three Chinese technology companies completed strong Hong Kong trading debuts in early January 2026, raising a combined $1.19 billion. They covered artificial intelligence, semiconductor design and surgical robotics, showing the range of businesses seeking international capital through the city.

Zhipu AI, also known as Knowledge Atlas Technology, opened 3.3% above its offer price and finished its first trading day up 13.2%, reaching a valuation near HK$51 billion. Semiconductor designer Shanghai Iluvatar CoreX began trading 31.6% above its IPO price. Shenzhen Edge Medical, a surgical robotics company, jumped 36.4% at the opening.

MiniMax Group, another Chinese AI company, and chipmaker OmniVision Integrated Circuits were also joining the listing queue. Cornerstone investors across these offerings included Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, OrbiMed, UBS Asset Management and Tencent's Huang River fund. Cornerstone investors commit money to an offering before public trading begins.

Tom Chan Pak-lam, permanent honorary president of the Institute of Securities Dealers, says international investors are seeking mainland technology companies, particularly in semiconductors, AI and robotics. He describes Hong Kong's financial role as a reason that demand can reach Chinese businesses:

This trend will continue as Hong Kong is an international financial centre and a connector between China and the world,

It is natural for mainland technology companies to use Hong Kong as a platform to go global.

Janice Hu, China Country Head at UBS, puts the value of China's listed AI and high-tech companies at about $5 trillion, compared with roughly $30 trillion in the United States. On those figures, the US total is about six times China's, a gap she sees as leaving room for growth.

Hu's assessment of that prospect is brief:

It's only a matter of time,

Research and Robotics Expand Beyond Share Sales

Arm China, the Chinese unit of British semiconductor company Arm Holdings, plans to establish a chip intellectual property research and development centre in Hong Kong during 2026. The facility will be in the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone.

The company aims to recruit approximately 100 people within three years, focusing on applications in artificial intelligence and robotics. It cited Hong Kong's ability to bring together global innovation resources, leading industry talent and an established capital ecosystem. Chip intellectual property refers to designs and related technology used in developing semiconductors.

Shenzhen Inovance Technology represents another part of the expansion: industrial automation. The company has selected banks including Bank of America, CICC and Morgan Stanley for a Hong Kong listing that could raise as much as $2 billion.

Founded in 2003 and already publicly traded in Shenzhen, Inovance makes automation solutions for plastics, packaging and steel production. Its equipment serves industrial workplaces, complementing Yunji's service robots and the collaborative robots produced by Guangdong Huayan Robotics. Huayan's shares rose 27% during its December 2025 debut.

China Micro Semicon is also among the semiconductor businesses identified in the shift toward Hong Kong. Across the sector, the attraction combines financing with access to research, talent and customers outside the mainland.

The Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises has drawn more than 102 firms to Hong Kong, with ten planning public offerings. Those companies are expected to bring around HK$60 billion in investment and create approximately 22,000 job opportunities.

Hong Kong's role is therefore broadening from finance into research and commercial operations. Companies are seeking a place where technical development, fundraising and preparations for overseas sales can happen close to the mainland's manufacturing centres.

Biotechnology Builds on a Clinical Network

The Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, or HKSTP, hosts more than 300 health and life science companies, including over 60 innovators at the clinical stage. Clinical development involves testing treatments in people, a necessary step toward bringing new medicines to patients.

Health Hope Pharma is using Hong Kong's "1+" regulatory pathway to speed up commercialization of novel cancer therapies across the Greater Bay Area. Its work shows that the city's appeal extends to businesses dealing with medical regulation and treatment development, rather than only software and electronic hardware.

Arthrosi Therapeutics developed its gout treatment through HKSTP's clinical trial ecosystem. It secured $153 million in Series E funding before international biopharmaceutical company Sobi acquired it for $1.5 billion. Series E describes a later round of private investment in a company.

The biotechnology examples add another dimension to Hong Kong's expansion. Laboratories and clinical development networks can help companies prepare a treatment for commercial use, while the financial system supplies investment and access to international buyers.

Data Compliance Is Part of the Business Model

MiningLamp Technology, a Chinese AI software company, established operations in Hong Kong in 2025. Founder Wu Minghui describes the territory as a "data compliance transfer station," a place where mainland businesses can test how they manage information moving across borders and build compliance processes before entering other markets.

Data compliance means following the rules governing how information is collected, stored, accessed and transferred. Governments increasingly scrutinize these activities because data can contain personal details or information important to national security. Data sovereignty concerns focus on which jurisdiction has authority over that information.

MiningLamp's approach uses Hong Kong as a preparation point. A company can work through the practical requirements of moving and managing data before expanding its operations elsewhere.

Xiaomeng Lu, a director at political consultancy Eurasia Group, says geopolitical pressures are weakening mainland companies' ability to float shares in New York and encouraging them to shift primary listings to Hong Kong. She describes the attraction for businesses seeking international investors:

These days Hong Kong is their best hope to attract global investors and position themselves as a player not fully constrained by the boundary of the mainland market,

A Hong Kong presence allows companies to present themselves with a degree of international separation while keeping their mainland operational ties. The city's legal protections, financial services and business connections can support that positioning, alongside the product testing illustrated by Yunji.

Paul Triolo, a Washington-based partner at consultancy DGA Group, says the protection has limits:

Hong Kong is not really a geopolitical shield [for such firms],

It only partially mitigates their risks.

Triolo says mainland companies remain subject to Beijing's evolving cybersecurity rules, data controls and requirements for artificial intelligence services offered to the public. Their Hong Kong operations sit alongside those continuing obligations.

Corporate Restructuring and Political Risks Persist

Moonshot AI, one of China's most prominent artificial intelligence startups, is valued at approximately $18 billion and is dismantling its Cayman Islands holding structure to enable a Hong Kong listing.

Chinese regulators have encouraged companies using "red-chip" structures to remove them and list as local entities to improve ownership transparency. Such companies have mainland operations but are incorporated offshore. A holding structure determines how ownership is arranged above the operating business.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission has tightened its oversight of these arrangements, although they have not been officially banned. Moonshot's restructuring shows how preparations for a listing can involve changes to ownership arrangements as well as decisions about where to sell shares.

Western governments continue to tighten national security reviews of Chinese investments and technology, citing concerns about access to data and critical infrastructure. The United States and United Kingdom have moved to restrict or phase out Chinese suppliers from telecommunications networks.

Investor doubts about Chinese corporate governance also persist following the Luckin Coffee scandal. The company admitted fabricating sales and faced delisting from New York's Nasdaq in 2020. Corporate governance concerns involve how a company is managed, how it reports its finances and how investors can hold its leadership accountable.

Hong Kong's own political changes form another part of the calculation. After mass pro-democracy protests in 2019, authorities imposed sweeping national security legislation. Dozens of activists, opposition politicians and journalists have been arrested or imprisoned under those laws.

Officials maintain that the measures restored stability. Critics argue that they curtailed political freedoms and created uncertainty for international businesses. Hong Kong's effort to attract global technology companies is taking place alongside its closer integration into China's security framework.

Companies Put Offices and Headquarters in the City

Alibaba Group Holding and its affiliate Ant Group purchased office space at One Causeway Bay for HK$7.2 billion, or $925 million. The purchase was Hong Kong's largest office property deal since 2021.

Joseph Tsai, Alibaba's chairman, cited Hong Kong's professional talent, robust capital markets, innovative culture and global connectivity as reasons for a global technology company to choose the city. The property purchase gives the expansion a physical presence alongside activity in the stock market.

Electric vehicle startup Li Auto established its overseas headquarters in Hong Kong earlier in 2026. The headquarters oversees research and development, intellectual property management, global supply chains and international business development.

BrainCo, a brain-computer interface unicorn, opened its Asia-Pacific research and development base in the city to strengthen partnerships with local universities and accelerate product development. A brain-computer interface connects signals from the brain with a device. The term unicorn describes a privately held startup valued at more than $1 billion.

Lens Technology Group, a key supplier to robotics companies, plans to use proceeds from its Hong Kong listing to expand operations in Vietnam and North America and develop components for humanoid robots.

The Hong Kong government has created the GoGlobal Task Force, a platform combining InvestHK, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council and overseas offices. Algernon Yau, secretary for commerce and economic development, says it provides tailored services covering tax, legal matters, financing, testing and certification, environmental compliance and intellectual property protection.

The services support a model described as "R&D in Hong Kong, manufacturing in the Greater Bay Area, and global sales". Companies can combine research in Hong Kong with production capacity in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, then use the city's business services to prepare overseas expansion.

Southeast Asia and the Middle East Become Next Stops

Xiaohongshu, known internationally as RedNote, opened its first office outside mainland China in Hong Kong in June 2025 before expanding into Malaysia. Malaysia is now its second-largest market outside China.

Large ethnic Chinese communities in Southeast Asia provide an initial user base with fewer language and cultural barriers than Western markets. ByteDance and Tencent are also expanding digital businesses in e-sports, e-commerce and artificial intelligence across the region.

Southeast Asia offers young consumers accustomed to using mobile technology and lighter regulatory pressure than Western markets. In 2025, China's trade surplus in digital services reached a record $33 billion. A trade surplus means the value of services sold abroad exceeds the value bought from other countries.

TikTok Shop, the shopping feature within the app, doubled its gross merchandise value in Southeast Asia from the previous year to $45.6 billion. Gross merchandise value measures the value of goods sold through a platform.

The Middle East is another destination. Loretta Lee, Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, recently led a trade mission to Kuwait and Qatar, where local companies expressed strong interest in partnerships with Chinese firms. She described what those potential partners were seeking:

They have capital and resources, but they lack people and advanced technologies,

When we brought mainland companies to meet them, they were immediately impressed and eager to cooperate.

The proposed "technology plus services" model combines mainland technical capabilities with Hong Kong's legal, financial and accounting expertise. Lee describes the city as a free port and international financial centre with an open environment for capital, legal services, language and data flows.

Hong Kong is accelerating engagement with Global South countries across Africa, Latin America, ASEAN, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. More than 70 leading global banks and its financial system provide support ranging from financing and compliance to risk management and global branding.

The expansion also fits Beijing's economic goals of technology self-reliance and reduced dependence on foreign hardware and software, as outlined in China's 15th Five-Year Plan. Hong Kong serves as the immediate destination, while companies seek customers across several regions beyond it.

How the Shift Developed

The move toward Hong Kong brings together several years of market recovery, corporate expansion and changing political conditions. Key dates show how financing and physical operations have advanced together:

• 2019: Hong Kong was the world's largest IPO market before its return to that position in 2025. Mass pro-democracy protests were followed by sweeping national security legislation.
• 2020: Luckin Coffee admitted fabricating sales and faced delisting from Nasdaq, contributing to continuing investor concerns about corporate governance.
• 2024: Thirty mainland Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong.
• June 2025: RedNote opened its first office outside mainland China in Hong Kong.
• October 2025: Yunji listed in Hong Kong to broaden its investor base and support international expansion.
• December 2025: Guangdong Huayan Robotics recorded a 27% stock rise during its debut.
• Full year 2025: Hong Kong recorded 76 mainland listings and 119 new listings across the market, with the latter raising HK$286.9 billion.
• Early January 2026: Zhipu AI, Shanghai Iluvatar CoreX and Shenzhen Edge Medical raised a combined $1.19 billion in successful debuts.
• 2026: Li Auto established its overseas headquarters, while Arm China planned a Hong Kong research centre with approximately 100 recruits within three years.

As of March 30, the plans extend beyond completed deals: Inovance is pursuing a possible listing of up to $2 billion, Moonshot AI is restructuring, and ten firms attracted by the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises are planning public offerings. No completion dates were given for those proposed listings.

Key Points

• Mainland listings in Hong Kong rose 153% to 76 in 2025, compared with 30 in 2024.
• The whole Hong Kong market recorded 119 new listings raising HK$286.9 billion, returning it to first place globally for IPOs.
• AI, semiconductors, service and industrial robotics, and biotechnology are all part of the expansion.
• Yunji uses Hong Kong to demonstrate hotel robots, while MiningLamp uses it to prepare processes for managing data across borders.
• Alibaba, Ant Group, Li Auto, BrainCo and Arm China are building a physical presence through offices, headquarters or research plans.
• Hong Kong offers access to international investors and business services, while mainland regulation and Western security scrutiny continue.
• The GoGlobal Task Force supports overseas expansion, with Southeast Asia and the Middle East among the next destinations.
• Proposed investments, recruitment and listings remain future commitments alongside the deals already completed.