Key Takeaways:
Hong Kong took the global crown for IPO fundraising last year, as Chinese companies flooded the market
The listing frenzy has been largely propelled by policy changes, and looks set to continue this year with nearly 400 active IPO applications in Hong Kong's pipeline
By Doug Young
The tide of offshore listings by Chinese companies turned sharply back to Asia in 2025, lifting Hong Kong to the world's leading IPO market in terms of fundraising for the year, as New York rapidly lost momentum. Policy shifts, both at the government and stock exchange levels, were the main driver of the sea change, leading many to forecast the shift would accelerate this year and continue into the foreseeable future.
Companies, the vast majority of them Chinese, raised about HK$280 billion ($36 billion) through Hong Kong IPOs last year, equal to nearly a quarter of the roughly $160 billion raised worldwide, according to annual reports by the world's top accounting firms. That made Hong Kong the world's top IPO market by fundraising, ahead of the Nasdaq, which was the second with about $26 billion raised, according to Deloitte.
The banner year ends a losing streak that saw Hong Kong raise just HK$239 billion in the previous three years combined. Much of that poor performance owed to China's rapidly slowing economy, compounded by deteriorating relations between China and the West, most notably with the U.S.
The abrupt turnaround, which saw the benchmark Hang Seng Index rise nearly 30% last year, began toward the end of 2024 when China began unveiling a series of measures designed to stimulate its flagging economy. A steady series of policy changes by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange boosted the tide of Chinese companies coming to the city, making listings there more attractive.
Those changes date back as early as 2018, the year Hong Kong began allowing a ...
