In the first half of 2026, alongside the deepening AI industry cycle and a heating up of hard technology sectors, the STAR Market achieved a dual breakthrough in both market performance and financing functions.
In the primary market, the pace of new share issuances and the scale of fundraising both recovered, further strengthening the market's concentration of hard technology firms and deepening its role as a direct financing channel serving technological innovation.
In the secondary market, core indices led gains across the entire market, total market capitalization expanded rapidly, trading activity and capital attractiveness continued to improve, and the market saw the birth of its first company with a market value exceeding one trillion yuan.
Primary Market Overview: A Surge in Fundraising Scale
According to data statistics, by the end of the first half of 2026, a total of 610 companies were listed and trading on the STAR Market.
Counting by online subscription dates, the market completed 11 new share issuances in the first half of 2026, a 57.14% increase compared to the 7 issuances in the same period of 2025, indicating an accelerated pace of new listings as market sentiment recovered.
In terms of fundraising scale, STAR Market IPOs collectively raised 195.77 billion yuan in the first half, a year-on-year increase of 147.81%.
The growth rate in fundraising volume significantly outpaced the growth in the number of issuances, with the average fundraising amount per company rising notably, reflecting the market's continuously strengthening capacity to absorb capital for high-quality hard tech enterprises.
Regarding the distribution of fundraising, 8 companies raised over 1 billion yuan each through their IPOs, while 3 companies raised between 500 million and 1 billion yuan.
The proportion of large-scale fundraising projects increased, further highlighting the capital-raising capabilities of leading firms.
In terms of thematic industry distribution among the new issuers, the companies listed on the STAR Market in the first half of 2026 covered 5 thematic sectors.
The new-generation information technology industry led with 8 issuances, while the biotech industry, new materials industry, and aerospace industry each had one issuer.
This distribution is highly focused on core technological innovation fields, aligning closely with the STAR Market's positioning as a hub for "hard technology."
Regarding listing standards, 8 companies chose to list under Standard I, which requires "positive net profits for the most recent two years with a cumulative net profit of no less than 50 million yuan, or a positive net profit for the most recent year with operating revenue of no less than 100 million yuan, and an estimated market value of no less than 1 billion yuan."
Profitable technology and innovation companies remained the main force among new listings.
However, the cohort also included companies that were not yet profitable, demonstrating the continued effectiveness of the STAR Market's inclusive and diversified listing system in meeting the listing needs of tech companies at different development stages.
At the individual company fundraising level, Shenghe Jingwei topped the list for the first half with an IPO fundraising amount of 5.028 billion yuan.
As a core enterprise in China's advanced packaging sector, its fundraising is primarily intended for expanding AI chip packaging capacity, helping to address gaps in the domestic computing power industry chain.
Shi'an Technology-UW (2.268 billion yuan) and Lianxun Instruments (2.102 billion yuan) followed closely, with their fund allocations covering core technology areas such as silicon-based OLED displays and semiconductor testing equipment.
Overall, most new STAR Market listings in the first half were concentrated in upstream segments of the semiconductor industry chain, further refining the market's technology industry layout.
Geographically, Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces each saw 2 new issuances, tying for the top spot nationally.
Seven other provinces and municipalities, including Tianjin, Shaanxi, and Anhui, each had one issuer.
This reflects both the corporate cultivation advantages of innovation hubs like the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, as well as the accelerated growth of tech companies in central and western regions, indicating a continuous broadening of the STAR Market's regional coverage and industrial influence.
Secondary Market Dynamics: Expansion in Both Index and Market Capitalization
In the first half of the year, the STAR Market's secondary market experienced an independent upward trend, with its index performance, market capitalization scale, and trading activity ranking at the forefront among A-share sectors, significantly enhancing the market pricing and industry influence of leading tech companies.
According to data statistics, in the first half of 2026, the STAR 50 Index surged by 64.25%, outperforming the core 50 indices of other A-share sectors and becoming a key barometer for the structural trends across the entire market.
By the end of the first half, the total market capitalization of the STAR Market reached 18.10 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.06 trillion yuan from the 11.04 trillion yuan recorded at the end of the first quarter of 2026, representing a quarter-on-quarter growth of 63.99%.
The market capitalization of the board accelerated its expansion in the second quarter alongside the prevailing technology-focused market trend, continuously increasing its weight and industry voice within the broader A-share market.
The market value tiers of individual companies also upgraded simultaneously.
Cambricon became the first company on the STAR Market to surpass a total market value of one trillion yuan.
SMIC (871.451 billion yuan) and Hygon Information (860.702 billion yuan) followed closely to form the first tier.
Six companies, including AMEC and Montage Technology, saw their total market values exceed 300 billion yuan.
The average market value of leading companies on the board rose significantly compared to the beginning of the year, gradually establishing the pricing benchmark role of tech giants.
Trading data shows that the cumulative total turnover on the STAR Market in the first half of 2026 reached 39.22 trillion yuan, with an average turnover per stock of 64.292 billion yuan.
This figure is significantly higher than the average turnover per stock on the Shanghai and Shenzhen main boards and the ChiNext board during the same period, reflecting that STAR Market stocks achieved higher capital coverage and trading depth.
In terms of turnover rate, the STAR Market's average daily turnover rate in the first half was 3.73%, higher than that of the Shanghai main board during the same period.
Furthermore, valuation and capital structure presented a pattern dominated by bullish sentiment.
By the end of the first half of 2026, the overall price-to-earnings ratio of the STAR Market reached 254.78 times, and the price-to-book ratio reached 8.58 times.
Both valuation metrics were significantly higher than those of the ChiNext board and the Shanghai and Shenzhen main boards, fully reflecting the market's valuation premium for the high-growth attributes of hard tech companies on the STAR Market, which echoed the high prosperity of the technology industry in the first half.
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