On the evening of October 14, Ningbo Jiangfeng Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. announced that its board of directors had approved a resolution regarding the issuance of H-shares and listing on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited. This planned Hong Kong listing represents a significant move to deepen its international strategic layout, leverage international capital market resources to build a diversified financing platform, and further enhance its overseas capital operations and financing capabilities.
Since the beginning of this year, multiple A-share listed companies have pursued listings in Hong Kong. According to Wind data, as of now, 38 A-share companies have listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange during the year, doubling the number for the entirety of last year. Together they raised a total of HK$261.231 billion, accounting for 67.75% of total Hong Kong IPO fundraising during the same period, marking "A+H" as an important capital pathway for A-share listed companies.
Experts interviewed generally believe that the wave of A-share companies listing in Hong Kong this year is primarily driven by a combination of three forces: policy dividends, market attraction, and corporate strategy.
Hard Tech Companies Become the Main Force
Among A-share companies that have listed in Hong Kong this year, hard tech companies in fields such as AI computing power and semiconductors have become the main force. Among them, optical communications leader Zhongji Innolight Co., Ltd. set a new Hong Kong IPO fundraising record since Alibaba's return listing in 2019, with an initial offering size of HK$61.422 billion. Fu Yifu, a special researcher at Suzhou Commercial Bank, told reporters that hard tech leaders seeking "A+H" listings primarily value Hong Kong's role as a platform connecting to global capital, hoping to bring in overseas sovereign funds and long-term institutions to optimize their shareholder structure.
The supply-side pipeline is equally robust. As of now, a total of 102 A-share companies planning to list in Hong Kong are in the queue, accounting for nearly 30% of all projects under review. Notably, in addition to direct listings by parent companies, several A-share listed companies are spinning off subsidiaries for Hong Kong listings. For example, Shenzhen Han's CNC Technology Co., Ltd., which listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this year, is a controlling subsidiary of A-share listed company Han's Laser Technology Industry Group Co., Ltd. According to the company's official website, Han's CNC primarily focuses on PCB-specific equipment, and after listing, Han's Laser maintained control over it, forming an "A+H" dual-platform development model.
On September 21, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange published a consultation paper on the second phase of its listing regime competitiveness assessment, proposing to shorten the moratorium period during which a parent company cannot submit a spin-off listing application from three years to one year, and to simplify spin-off regulatory procedures. In Fu Yifu's view, more companies may subsequently achieve "A+H" dual-platform development through the spin-off listing model.
Three Driving Forces in Resonance
In fact, behind this wave of A-share companies listing in Hong Kong is the resonance of three forces: policy dividends, market attraction, and corporate strategy. First, from an institutional perspective, regulators have continued to release positive signals this year, explicitly supporting quality domestic enterprises to list in Hong Kong. For example, on August 3, Wu Qing, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, stated at the launch ceremony for RMB government bond futures in Hong Kong: "We will, as always, support domestic enterprises expanding their international footprint to list in Hong Kong, support quality Hong Kong-listed companies to list on the mainland, and jointly enhance the quality and effectiveness of serving the development of new quality productive forces."
At the same time, the Hong Kong market is accelerating the optimization of its listing mechanisms to provide institutional convenience for enterprises seeking to raise funds in Hong Kong. For example, on July 24, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange officially launched a major reform adjusting its IPO regime. Key measures include lowering the market capitalization threshold for companies with weighted voting rights structures and extending the confidential filing mechanism to all IPO applicants. This helps reduce compliance costs and information disclosure pressure for innovative companies listing in Hong Kong.
Second, Hong Kong attracts global capital by virtue of its unique position as an international financial hub. Sovereign funds, overseas pension funds, and other long-term "patient capital" gathered in Hong Kong stocks prefer assets with long-term growth logic such as hard tech and high-end manufacturing. They can transcend short-term trading games and match the capital needs of innovative companies' long-cycle R&D investments. Many new stocks receive support from international cornerstone investors during the offering stage, resulting in greater issuance stability. Wind data shows that among the 38 companies that successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this year, the average cornerstone investor shareholding ratio at IPO was 3.28%. Among them, Dajin Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Han's CNC Technology Co., Ltd., and Megmeet Co., Ltd. all had cornerstone investor shareholding ratios exceeding 5%.
Finally, for enterprises, listing in Hong Kong not only broadens diversified financing channels but also facilitates access to international capital and supports global business layout, while also hedging against single-market risks.
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