The Hong Kong IPO Surge: HKEX as the Global #1 in 2025

Introduction

Hong Kong's HKEX captured the world's leading IPO ranking in 2025 for the first time since 2019, with approximately US$36 billion raised across 106+ new listings (HK$274.6 billion total, a 218-224 percent year-over-year increase). HKEX displaced Nasdaq (approximately US$26.4 billion in 2025 IPO proceeds, second place), the National Stock Exchange of India (approximately US$21.6 billion, third place), and NYSE (approximately US$19.3 billion, fourth place). The Hong Kong surge was driven by three converging structural forces: A-share Chinese companies cross-listing through the A+H model (90 A-share applicants in the HKEX pipeline as of late November 2025), the August 2025 HKEX reforms providing regulatory clarity that supported the return of major cornerstone investors (BlackRock, Temasek, QIA, Mubadala, Fidelity), and marquee mega-deals (CATL's HK$41 billion or US$4.6 billion offering, Mixue's US$444 million consumer listing, Pony AI's US$860 million AI-platform listing). Cornerstone investments in Hong Kong stocks reached HK$74.2 billion through Q3 2025, a 365 percent increase from HK$15.9 billion in the same period of 2024. With 316 active IPO applicants in the pipeline by December 2025 (a 267 percent increase from year-end 2024), Hong Kong's IPO dominance is expected to continue into 2026.

The 2025 HKEX surge produced specific volume statistics that captured the year's recovery.

Total Volume

HKEX raised approximately US$36 billion in 2025 (specifically HK$274.6 billion as of December 19, with full-year close to HK$300 billion including December finishing activity). The total represents a 210-224 percent year-over-year increase from 2024 and the strongest fundraising year since 2022.

Deal Count and Pipeline

106+ new listings completed in 2025, with the active IPO applicant pipeline reaching 316 by December 2025 (a 267 percent increase from year-end 2024). The pipeline depth supports continued strong activity into 2026, with 90 A-share companies actively planning Hong Kong dual listings as of late November 2025.

Global Ranking Comparison

Mega-Deals on HKEX

Eight HKEX IPOs raised at least HK$10 billion each in 2025. CATL's HK$41 billion (approximately US$5.2 billion post-greenshoe) listing in May was the world's largest 2025 IPO until being eclipsed by US biotech Medline's US$6.26 billion Nasdaq listing in December. Four of the year's top 10 global IPOs listed in Hong Kong.

The HKEX surge had specific structural drivers.

Driver 1: A+H Listing Model

Chinese A-share companies cross-listing in Hong Kong through the A+H model captured the majority of 2025 HKEX issuance volume. CATL's listing was the year's most prominent example, but the pipeline of 90 A-share companies planning HKEX listings indicates the A+H pattern will continue driving 2026 issuance. The A+H model lets Mainland China companies access international institutional capital while maintaining their A-share home listing for domestic investor access.

A+H Listing Model

A dual-listing structure where a Chinese company maintains primary listings in both an A-share market (Shanghai or Shenzhen) and Hong Kong (H-share). The model lets the issuer access Mainland China institutional and retail capital through the A-share listing while accessing international institutional capital through Hong Kong. The A+H pattern was a principal driver of 2025 HKEX IPO volume, with 90 A-share companies in the active HKEX pipeline as of late 2025.

Driver 2: HKEX August 2025 Reforms

HKEX implemented comprehensive listing reforms effective August 4, 2025, capping cornerstone tranches at 50-55 percent of total offer shares (depending on Mechanism A or B):

The reforms also retained the six-month cornerstone lockup and allowed cornerstones to participate in both pre-IPO placings and the IPO ("double-dipping"). The framework provided regulatory clarity that supported the return of major global cornerstone investors after their 2022-2024 stepback from Hong Kong activity.

Driver 3: Cornerstone Investor Return

BlackRock, Temasek, Qatar Investment Authority, Mubadala, and Fidelity reanchored HKEX cornerstone books in 2025. Cornerstone investments in Hong Kong stocks reached HK$74.2 billion through the first three quarters of 2025, a 365 percent year-over-year increase from HK$15.9 billion in the same period of 2024. The cornerstone return supported approximately 40 percent of total HKEX fundraising and provided the institutional anchor that drove the year's marquee deals.

Several specific 2025 HKEX IPOs defined the year's narrative.

CATL: HK$41 Billion / ~US$5.2 Billion (Post-Greenshoe)

Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL), the Chinese EV battery giant, listed in Hong Kong in May 2025 raising HK$41 billion (approximately US$5.2 billion post-greenshoe), the world's largest 2025 IPO until being eclipsed by Medline in December. CATL's listing illustrated the A+H model: the company's primary A-share listing in Shenzhen continued, with the Hong Kong listing providing access to international institutional capital.

Mixue: US$444 Million

Mixue Bingcheng, China's largest bubble-tea chain, raised US$444 million through its 2025 HKEX listing. The deal represented the consumer-brand sub-segment of the HKEX 2025 cohort and attracted strong retail investor demand alongside institutional cornerstones.

Pony AI: US$860 Million

Pony AI, the autonomous-driving platform, raised US$860 million through its 2025 HKEX listing. The Pony AI deal validated HKEX as a venue for AI-platform listings and positioned the exchange in the broader 2026 AI-IPO calendar.

Mingming Hen Mang and Other Cornerstone Deals

Mingming Hen Mang's HKEX listing attracted eight high-profile cornerstones (Tencent, Temasek, BlackRock, Fidelity collectively committing approximately US$195 million), illustrating the cornerstone-investor return pattern in concrete deal economics.

Hong Kong's IPO momentum extended sharply into early 2026.

HK$109.9 Billion Q1 2026 Total

HKEX raised approximately HK$109.9 billion across 40 listings in Q1 2026, a 489 percent year-over-year increase in funds raised and a 167 percent increase in deal volume against the equivalent prior-year period. The Q1 2026 total represented the strongest quarterly Hong Kong IPO performance in five years and validated the structural narrative that the 2025 surge would extend rather than mean-revert. Nearly 80 percent of Q1 2026 funds came from A+H and specialist technology listings, confirming the same drivers that powered 2025 carrying into the new year.

Victory Giant Technology and the AI Cohort

Victory Giant Technology, an AI-focused printed-circuit-board manufacturer, opened its order books April 13, 2026 targeting up to HK$17.5 billion of proceeds, with trading begun April 21. The deal exemplifies the AI-supplier-chain cohort using HKEX as the primary listing venue, capturing the same broader AI capex theme driving US AI IPO activity but routed through Hong Kong's deeper Asia institutional access. Envision AESC (EV and energy-storage battery manufacturer) is weighing a 2026 HKEX listing to fund its multi-continent manufacturing build-out, joining the AI/clean-energy supply-chain cohort that increasingly views Hong Kong as preferred listing venue.

500-Plus Applicants in Active Pipeline

The HKEX active applicant pipeline reached 500+ companies in early 2026, up from the 316 reported at year-end 2025. The deepening pipeline supports continued strong issuance through the rest of 2026, with AI and space-tech expected as the principal thematic categories driving issuance. The A-share home-market backdrop (RMB $27.4 billion raised across 31 Mainland deals in Q1 2026) provides the underlying private-issuer base feeding the A+H Hong Kong pipeline.

CICC anchored the 2025 HKEX bookrunner league table with structurally significant market share. CICC sponsored 13 Hong Kong IPOs in H1 2025 alone (including CATL, Foshan Haitian Flavouring and Food, Zhejiang Sanhua Intelligent Controls) with US$2.87 billion aggregate lead underwriting; closed 20 IPOs as global coordinator (US$2.38 billion aggregate); and 20 IPOs as bookrunner (US$1.18 billion aggregate), ranking #1 in each category. Morgan Stanley joint-sponsored WeRide (HK$2.39 billion autonomous-driving IPO) and InSilico Medicine (the year's largest Hong Kong biotech IPO, joint with CICC and GF Securities). Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, BofA, Citi, and the major bulge brackets participated through joint-bookrunner roles on the largest deals; Chinese banks (CITIC, Huatai, Haitong) round out the major participation. The mix of CICC at the top with bulge brackets in collaborative roles is structurally distinct from the US league table and reflects Hong Kong's specific connectivity to Mainland China issuer bases.

Hong Kong's structural advantages for specific issuer profiles support continued 2026 leadership.

Where HKEX Wins

HKEX wins for Mainland China issuers seeking international institutional capital (A+H model is uniquely suited to this), for issuers prioritizing cornerstone-anchored execution (the formal cornerstone framework with mandatory lockup is structurally distinctive), and for issuers with consumer-brand recognition in Asia-Pacific markets.

Where NYSE/Nasdaq Win

NYSE and Nasdaq win for issuers prioritizing the deepest US institutional capital pool and broadest retail reach, for AI-themed deals where US public-market investor expertise is concentrated, and for issuers seeking to access the deepest convertible bond market post-IPO.

The Cross-Listing Pattern

A growing number of issuers list on both HKEX and NYSE or Nasdaq, capturing both regional capital pools through dual listings. The cross-listing pattern is expected to expand in 2026 as issuers seek to maximize capital-pool access amid the deep mega-IPO pipeline.

The Hong Kong IPO surge above is the most distinctive 2025 regional ECM phenomenon. The next article walks through A+H listings and the China-to-Hong Kong pipeline in greater depth, since this structural pattern was the principal mechanic supporting HKEX's global #1 ranking.