Unitree Robotics IPO: What Kind of Strategic Layout Does It Reveal About China? | Finance Cover

Source | Caijing Magazine
Authors | Caijing Reporters Zhang Jianfeng, Yang Xiuhong
Contributing Writer | Kang Guoliang
Editor | Yang Xiuhong

Yushu Technology’s IPO Approved: In the coming years, the number of Chinese tech companies going public and their financing scale are expected to continue breaking records. Behind this wave of listings is a deep strategic layout amid great power competition.

As global technological competition intensifies, China is experiencing a surge in tech company IPOs.

On March 20, Yushu Technology’s application for IPO on the STAR Market was officially accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, with a proposed fundraising of 4.202 billion yuan, of which 85% will be invested in R&D projects. This marks the official push of this leading embodied intelligence company to become the first “humanoid robot stock” in A-shares, and also signals the start of this round of IPOs for embodied intelligence firms. It is understood that by 2026, at least six embodied intelligence companies, including Yushu Technology, Zhiyuan Robotics, Galaxy General, Xinghai Map, Songyan Power, and Leju Robotics, are preparing IPO plans.

In fact, over the past year, Chinese tech companies—from AI chips and large models to embodied intelligence and commercial space—have become the main players in IPOs on the A-share and Hong Kong markets. 2026 is expected to become a major year for global tech company financing. From a global perspective, SpaceX plans to complete its IPO before July 2026, potentially becoming the largest IPO in history; leading AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks also plan to go public in 2026. In China, tech companies have become the main force queueing for listings. As of February 26, 2026, among 341 companies waiting in line for A-share IPOs, over 80% are tech firms in terms of number, and over 70% in terms of fundraising amount; in the Hong Kong market, nearly 70% of the companies waiting in line are tech firms.

“Against the backdrop of a century of change globally and the shift in domestic growth paradigms, hard technology has become the core logic of capital allocation. The top-level institutional reforms have provided endogenous momentum for this wave of IPOs. The ‘1+6’ policy reform of the STAR Market, which breaks the constraints of traditional financial indicators on frontier technologies, has significantly shortened the path for quality tech companies to access capital markets. Meanwhile, market enthusiasm and the ‘profit-making effect’ have further catalyzed financing enthusiasm,” said Zhang Jun, Chief Economist of China Galaxy Securities, in an analysis for Caijing.

Behind this wave of tech IPOs, substantial capital support is indispensable. State-owned assets, market-oriented venture capital institutions, internet industry capital, and foreign investors are all actively involved, helping tech companies raise funds while also gaining considerable returns.

Xiong Rong, Chief Scientist at Zhejiang Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, told Caijing that since 2025, embodied intelligence has attracted much capital support due to its promising track and market potential. “Introducing capital helps companies expand faster.”

However, despite China’s accelerating technological catch-up, there remains a clear gap compared to international giants in overall strength. In terms of market share, revenue scale, market value, and technology, Chinese tech firms still lag behind. As of March 20, 2026, the combined market value of the Hang Seng Tech Index and the ChiNext component stocks in A-shares was 33.46 trillion yuan, less than one-third of the total market value of the seven major US tech giants.

“Domestic humanoid robots have an advantage in movement ability over Tesla and are stronger in supply chain aspects, while Tesla excels in integrated design,” Xiong Rong explained. The development of embodied intelligence technology is still in its early stages domestically and internationally. Chinese companies like Zhejiang Humanoid have developed a learning method capable of generalized, high-precision skill learning, leading internationally.

The “Special Competition Study Project” (SCSP) released the report “Welcome to the Arena” in early 2025, systematically analyzing the development trends and gaps between China and the US in 12 strategic fields including AI, biomedicine, quantum technology, and semiconductors. The US maintains leadership in semiconductors, quantum tech, and nuclear fusion energy, while China has advantages in advanced manufacturing, 5G, and commercial drones. Competition in AI and biomedicine will intensify further.

From a national strategic perspective, the intensive listing of tech companies is a deep strategic layout amid great power competition.

“China’s tech companies’ intensive IPOs are undoubtedly a major strategic deployment,” said Guan Qingyou, President of the China Fintech Research Institute. “Anytime, technological competition between nations is crucial, and now it’s even more so. The world is experiencing unprecedented changes, and US-China industrial and technological competition has entered a fierce phase. The dense IPO wave of Chinese tech firms is a necessary and essential move.”

Pian Xuan, a distinguished professor at Peking University, also told Caijing that after tech companies go public, leveraging the resource allocation function of capital markets can support the sustained growth of national strategic technological forces, enhance China’s position and discourse power in global tech competition, and help transform from a large economy to a strong one.

2026 marks the start of the “14th Five-Year Plan,” and the “14th Five-Year Plan” explicitly emphasizes accelerating high-level technological self-reliance and self-strengthening, leading the development of new productive forces, focusing on key strategic fields and weak links in the industrial chain and supply chain, and taking extraordinary measures to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies in areas such as integrated circuits, industrial robots, high-end instruments, basic software, advanced materials, and biomanufacturing.

CITIC Securities believes that the “14th Five-Year Plan” is likely to continue increasing support for high-tech and industrial independence. It notes that China currently has the largest scale and most complete industrial chain in the global manufacturing landscape, with significant advantages in several emerging manufacturing fields. However, there are still gaps in innovation capacity and high-quality development, with unbalanced and insufficient development, and reform tasks in key areas remain arduous. Tackling key core technologies and original innovation still requires greater effort.

Guan Qingyou told Caijing, “In the entire tech field, China will gradually shift from a position of parity with the US to a leading position. From the perspective of economic and trade impact, China will reshape globalization and establish new international trade and economic rules; globally, China’s technological revolution and manufacturing upgrades will bring a new round of ‘price revolution’.”

Market consensus suggests that this wave of tech stock IPOs will last for several years. Zhang Jun believes that this wave has strong resilience and is expected to continue at least until 2028. Over the next two years, with leading companies like Changxin Technology and Yushu Technology queueing up, the number of tech IPOs and their financing scale are likely to keep breaking records.

Nankai University Professor Tian Lihui said to Caijing, “This wave of tech company IPOs is a long-term trend expected to last more than ten years. The fundamental reason is that we are at the intersection of two major cycles: one is the deepening of a new round of global technological revolution, and the other is China’s transformation and upgrading of its development model. National policies, industrial demand, capital supply, and talent reserves form a strong synergistic force. This reflects the vitality of the innovation ecosystem and is an inevitable process for China’s tech industry to move toward the mid-to-high end of the global value chain.”

IPO Surge

As a key financing platform for tech companies, capital markets have become an important battleground for connecting innovation with direct financing.

Wind data shows that in 2025, the A-share IPO market rebounded strongly, with 116 companies successfully going public and raising about 131.77 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 95.64%. Among them, the combined fundraising of the STAR Market and ChiNext was nearly 63.4 billion yuan, accounting for half of the total market.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong market reclaimed the top spot globally with a total fundraising of HKD 286.9 billion, with new economy companies accounting for over two-thirds, led by new energy, AI, and healthcare tech firms.

In the A-share market, industry-wise, electronics led with 36.5 billion yuan in fundraising. Within this sector, semiconductors were the main force, raising over 27.5 billion yuan through IPOs. In 2025, ten semiconductor companies listed on A-shares, with Moorthrend (688795.SH), Xi’an Yicai (688783.SH), and Muxi Co. (688802.SH) each raising over 4 billion yuan, ranking top in the industry.

According to PwC, in 2025, new listed companies in China focused on manufacturing, information technology, materials, and energy sectors, with technological innovation becoming the core driver of their listings. This underscores the importance of the A-share capital market in supporting new productive forces, industrial upgrading, and technological independence.

A notable feature of this wave of tech IPOs is the support for leading companies in niche sectors to go public first. Market analysts believe this indicates a shift in capital market support strategies from “broad coverage” to “focused support,” mainly backing industry leaders capable of solving “bottleneck” issues and with strong commercialization potential.

“Unlike the past where IPOs were more dispersed, now exchanges are more selective, resources are more focused on leading companies in niche tech sectors,” said a chip industry insider to Caijing. “In the face of ‘bottleneck’ technologies, weaker domestic niche tech leaders need to survive first and then develop. Large-scale R&D investment is common among these companies, and listing on capital markets is an important way for their sustained growth, aligning with national policy directions.”

“Currently, both A-shares and Hong Kong stocks are supporting the listing of niche tech leaders, which is part of the strategic deployment to promote high-quality economic development and achieve technological independence,” said Huang Tianyi, Partner and Head of A-share Listing at Deloitte China. “On one hand, relying on the R&D strength of tech leaders can solve ‘bottleneck’ technical issues. On the other hand, supporting these leaders to list concentrates capital in high-tech, high-growth fields, helping to improve the modern industrial system and empower new productive forces. Supporting overseas listings of tech leaders is also a fast track for companies to integrate into the global system and participate in global competition, attracting international capital, enhancing global visibility, and strengthening the integrity of the industrial chain.”

For tech companies, listing means solving the funding bottleneck for R&D. “The GPU industry has high technical barriers, large R&D investments, and long development cycles. Capital market support not only provides more abundant R&D funds but also significantly enhances brand influence and attracts top talent, enabling us to better invest in independent innovation of domestically produced GPUs,” said Morerun, a leading domestic GPU chip company.

A senior executive from a large model company told Caijing that after entering the capital market, domestic large model companies will rapidly expand their personnel and R&D capabilities.

Xuan Tian, a professor at Peking University, said that the intensive IPO wave of Chinese tech firms broadens direct financing channels and guides capital into core tech fields, fostering a virtuous cycle of “financing-R&D-industrialization.”

“This sustained IPO boom will shift the structure of listed entities from ‘scale and profit’ to ‘technology and growth,’ which will have a profound impact on the structure of A-shares and Hong Kong listings in the future,” said Huang Tianyi. “Currently, the STAR Market and ChiNext have become the preferred platforms for high-tech and high-growth companies. Recent policies in Hong Kong also attract more unprofitable high-tech firms to list on the HKEX.”

In fact, this wave of tech IPOs has only just begun, and more companies are expected to go public in the coming years.

Xuan Tian said that policy dividends and industrial cycles resonate, with accelerated technological iteration and deepening domestic substitution continuously fueling the listing momentum. The Chinese tech IPO wave is expected to last until the end of the “14th Five-Year Plan” and may become a long-term feature of China’s capital markets.

As of February 26, 2026, among 341 companies waiting in line for A-share IPOs, the total proposed fundraising amount is 344.7 billion yuan. Companies planning to list on the STAR Market, ChiNext, and Beijing Stock Exchange account for over 80% of the number, and over 70% of the total fundraising amount.

The top in proposed fundraising is Changxin Technology, with 29.5 billion yuan. It is China’s largest, most advanced, and most comprehensive DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) R&D and manufacturing enterprise. According to Omdia, it has become China’s leading and the world’s fourth-largest DRAM manufacturer by capacity and shipment. Its IPO application was accepted on December 30, 2025.

Shanghai Chao Gui, ranked fourth in proposed fundraising on the STAR Market, mainly engages in R&D, production, and sales of 300mm and 200mm semiconductor silicon wafers. It has successfully entered the supply chain of major international semiconductor companies and established bulk supply relationships with 18 of the top 20 global IC companies, gaining high industry recognition.

Funds raised will be used for projects such as “Expansion of 300mm thin-layer silicon epitaxial wafers for integrated circuits,” “R&D of high-end semiconductor silicon materials,” and “Working capital supplementation.” These projects focus on core business areas, aiming to enhance R&D capabilities and expand capacity to meet the demands of top-tier IC customers.

In the Hong Kong market, as of February 26, 2026, among 388 companies waiting in line for IPOs, about 70% are in semiconductors and related tech fields.

Many other tech companies are also preparing to list. In January 2026, Baidu (9888.HK, BIDU.US) announced that its subsidiary Kunlun Chip had submitted a confidential IPO application to HKEX through joint sponsors. Additionally, Leju Robotics, Yun Shen Chu, and others have disclosed IPO counseling progress, planning to go public in 2026; several commercial space companies have also officially launched IPO plans.

Multiple institutions remain optimistic about the 2026 wave of tech IPOs. PwC estimates that about 150 companies will successfully list in Hong Kong in 2026, raising between HKD 320 billion and HKD 350 billion. Especially, new economy companies, including 18C innovative firms and 18A biotech companies, will continue to be the focus.

Liu Guoxian, Partner and Head of Capital Markets and Professional Services at KPMG China, said that supported by improved market sentiment and numerous potential new listings, the upward trend in IPOs is expected to continue through 2026. “Especially with AI technology maturing and being adopted more widely across industries, the pace of related companies going public will accelerate.”

“From a global perspective, 2026 has a solid foundation to become a ‘big year’ for tech IPOs. This is not just driven by sentiment but by the resonance of technological cycles, capital structure, and institutional environment,” said Zhang Jun. “First, IPO functions are shifting from a simple financing tool to a mechanism for public valuation and rights confirmation of strategic tech assets; second, the wave of tech IPOs will reshape and concentrate the global tech industry landscape; third, capital markets will serve as ‘patience pools’ for technological revolutions; fourth, industry reshuffling will accelerate; fifth, the distribution of tech innovation dividends will change.”

Meanwhile, the secondary market for Chinese tech assets is experiencing a systemic revaluation, with a sustained bull market led by tech stocks. Wind data shows that from January 1, 2025, to February 25, 2026, the CSI Innovation Index and ChiNext Index increased by over 60% and 50%, respectively; the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 18%, at times exceeding 30%, leading global gains.

At the same time, the Nasdaq 100 Tech Index in the US increased by 22%, outperforming the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Five of the seven US tech giants saw their stock prices rise, with Google and Nvidia each up over 40%.

“The intrinsic link between China’s tech IPO wave and asset revaluation is not just about market sentiment but also about China’s tech assets and technological development forming a long-term narrative driven by ‘national strategic will, capital market reform, endogenous innovation, and domestic demand potential,’” Zhang Jun explained. “Tech IPOs provide clearer valuation anchors, helping reshape valuation systems. Leading tech companies, through IPOs, put their business models, R&D efficiency, and growth paths to market scrutiny, reducing information asymmetry and shifting valuation focus from short-term profits to long-term innovation and technological barriers.”

Jiang Meijun, Chairman of Da Jiang Hong Asset Management, believes that China’s tech asset revaluation since 2025 is essentially a systemic reshaping of global investor risk expectations for Chinese assets. He sees a long-cycle bull market driven by a technological revolution centered on AI.

Capital Flows

Behind the wave of tech IPOs, funds from state-owned assets, market-oriented venture capital, internet industry capital, and foreign investors are all actively participating, fueling rapid growth of tech firms.

“Ample and long-term capital supply has laid a solid financial foundation for this IPO wave,” said Zhang Jun. “In 2025, the national-level guiding fund for venture investment, with a scale of trillions of yuan, was launched, focusing on seed and early-stage tech companies, providing patient capital during high-uncertainty phases. Meanwhile, market-based funds continue to follow up on large scale. Public funds are highly focused on AI, commercial space, and other hard tech sectors, forming a multi-layered capital support system covering the entire lifecycle of enterprises.”

Government and local investment funds are key early-stage supporters. State-owned capital such as Shenzhen Chuangye Venture Capital and Weifang Fund participated in early investments in Morerun; Hefei State-owned Capital’s Changxin Integration, National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase II, and Anhui Investment Group are major pre-IPO investors in Changxin Technology.

The National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund has established three phases, with 19 shareholders including the Ministry of Finance and state banks, mainly investing in IC manufacturing, semiconductor equipment, and materials. The third phase, established in May 2024, focuses on high-value DRAM chips, AI chips, lithography machines, and EDA tools—key “bottleneck” technologies—expected to mobilize 20 trillion yuan of social capital, with a planned ten-year investment period averaging about 200 billion yuan annually.

In addition, venture capital institutions are another major support force behind this wave of IPOs.

According to Caijing’s incomplete statistics, in 2025, over 2,000 financing events occurred in China’s AI sector, totaling over 450 billion yuan, an 80% increase year-on-year; embodied intelligence sector saw over 50 billion yuan in financing, 2.5 times the previous year; commercial space financing reached 18.6 billion yuan, up 32%.

“Since the second half of 2025, the entire market has been focused on commercial space. Leading companies like Blue Arrow Space, Tianbing Technology, and China Space have been competing fiercely for financing. Some newly established rocket startups in 2025 have already secured significant funding even before completing their first launch, which is unprecedented,” said an investor at the 2026 Beijing International Commercial Space Exhibition.

Embodied intelligence also attracts broad attention. “Since 2025, embodied intelligence has become one of the most active tech sectors in the capital market, with frequent financing rounds and rapid valuation growth. For example, Zhihui Square has completed seven rounds of financing in the past six months, supported by multiple billion-level funds and strategic investors,” said Mo Lei, Vice President of Zhihui Square.

Since December 2025, domestic GPU giants like Morerun and Muxi have gone public, with some long-term supporters reaping phased gains.

Han Yan, founder of Xin Capital, who participated in Muxi’s Series A shortly after its founding five months earlier, told Caijing, “Five years ago, the GPU sector was not hot. We persisted in investing in hard tech and started to consider the localization of the semiconductor industry, ultimately deciding to invest in domestic GPU companies. Investing in GPUs requires determination, courage, and long-term persistence. Although there were internal disagreements about whether to stick with it, our project team ultimately persevered.”

The IPOs of domestic large model companies like Zhihui and MINIMAX in Hong Kong at the start of 2026 will push AI application financing to a new high.

As the first angel investor in Zhihui since its founding in 2019, Zhongchuang Xing said, “When Zhihui was founded, domestic AI was in a trough. After internal debates, we believed Zhihui’s team was a leader in deep learning with long-term potential, so we decided to support them firmly.”

Mingshi Venture Capital, the most active investor in MINIMAX’s financing rounds, told Caijing, “When MINIMAX rang the bell at HKEX, it was a ‘homerun’ investment for us, with huge surprises not just from returns but from the profound disruptive impact of AI being underestimated by the outside world.”

“The Chinese stock market values the fit between companies’ businesses and different sectors, with STAR Market focusing on supporting hard tech and ‘bottleneck’ fields. The Hong Kong market benefited from the revaluation of Chinese tech stocks driven by DeepSeek, reaching a peak IPO financing of HKD 286.9 billion in 2025, ranking first globally. Market expectations for Hong Kong IPOs in 2026 remain optimistic. According to Huatai Securities Research Institute, the financing scale in Hong Kong could stay above HKD 300 billion,” said Zhang Chang, Executive General Manager of TMT Industry Department at Huatai United Securities. “For AI-related companies, both the STAR Market’s ‘18C’ special tech board and the ‘18A’ biotech board introduced in 2025 offer clear policy benefits, allowing companies to choose listing venues flexibly based on their stage and strategic needs.”

As industry giants like Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance align their own business layouts and ecosystems, they actively participate in investments in AI industry chains and tech companies.

Alibaba has incubated AI chip company Pingtouge. It plans to promote Pingtouge’s independent listing, currently in internal restructuring and preparation. Alibaba also invested in MINIMAX, holding about 12.52% of shares, making it its largest external shareholder.

Tencent is pushing for full-business AI transformation by investing in GPU chip firms like Suiyuan Technology to build its own AI chip supply chain. Tencent and related parties hold 20.26% of Suiyuan Technology, its largest external shareholder. In the first three quarters of 2025, Suiyuan’s sales to Tencent accounted for 71.84%.

ByteDance has broadly invested in chip, semiconductor, and robotics fields, including companies like Morerun, Ruisike, Xin Yuan Semiconductor, and Variable Robots.

On the foreign investment front, Xu Jingwei, head of the Global Listing Services at HKEX, said that in January 2026, several chip and large model companies—including Bairen Technology, Zhihui, Shishu Zhixin, and MINIMAX—attracted international investors. Some funds from the UAE, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, and the US participated, reflecting strong international interest in China’s leading AI firms. Of the $2.5 billion raised by these four companies, cornerstone investors subscribed about $1.3 billion, with an average cornerstone subscription rate of 58%, demonstrating HK’s role as a super connector for frontier tech and diverse capital.

“Since the second half of 2025, or more precisely, since this year, the enthusiasm for China going global has doubled. We believe this momentum will continue because China has significant advantages in semiconductors, AI, and robotics, and international investors are actively participating,” said Zhu Zhengqin, Vice Chairman of Asia at UBS Global Investment Bank. “We see more tech companies not only becoming Chinese leaders but also global leaders. It’s encouraging to see China’s economic restructuring over the past few years producing more industry giants, with more companies listing in Hong Kong, attracting increasing overseas investment. In the tech sector, overseas investors are clearly heavily invested in the US and China.”

Opportunities and Gaps

Behind the influx of capital, Chinese tech companies face both unprecedented opportunities and significant challenges.

Currently, from AI chips and large models to embodied intelligence and commercial space, Chinese tech firms are entering a strategic opportunity period.

With exploding global demand for intelligent computing power, domestic AI computing demand far exceeds supply, creating a significant self-sufficiency gap that offers opportunities for domestic AI chip companies.

Local governments, operators, and tech firms are continuously increasing investment in computing power infrastructure. Under the background of localization, Chinese companies’ market share in domestic AI chips is expected to rise sharply.

Cui Shi Consulting data shows that as one of the world’s largest AI markets, China’s intelligent computing chip market reached $30.1 billion in 2024, projected to grow to $201.2 billion by 2029. “It is estimated that China’s domestic market share of AI chips will increase from about 20% in 2024 to about 60% in 2029.”

In the large model sector, Frost & Sullivan data indicates that China’s large language model market was worth 5.3 billion yuan in 2024, expected to reach 101.1 billion yuan by 2030.

In the global embodied intelligence and commercial space industries, Chinese tech firms are showing strong competitiveness. Elon Musk recently stated that China’s manufacturing prowess makes it the biggest competitor in humanoid robots, and from open-source models, China is also very capable in AI.

Under strong national support for intelligent manufacturing and urgent global industrial digitalization needs, the market size of embodied intelligence is expected to grow rapidly.

Frost & Sullivan projects that the global embodied AI robot solutions market will grow from 82 billion yuan in 2024 to 280.7 billion yuan in 2029; China’s market is expected to expand from 28.7 billion yuan in 2024 to 110.1 billion yuan in 2029.

As a key strategic engine of new productive forces, commercial space development directly addresses major national needs.

Since SpaceX’s successful first-stage rocket recovery in 2015, reducing launch costs and ushering in a profitable commercial space era, the US has maintained leadership. In November 2025, Blue Origin became the second company globally to master orbital rocket recovery technology.

China plans to deploy tens of thousands of satellites over the next decade, with high network efficiency relying on frequent, commercial, reusable rocket launches. Currently, Chinese launch companies mainly use single-use rockets, which require low-cost, high-capacity, high-frequency reusable rockets.

According to Caijing, leading domestic private rocket companies like Blue Arrow Aerospace, Xinghe Power, and China Space are accelerating preparations for first or re-flights.

“By 2026, China will enter a period of intensive validation of reusable rockets. We will obtain key data such as full-flight attitude control and multiple engine ignitions, and soon have our own reusable rockets,” said Lin Yankun, founder of Blue Arrow Aerospace’s investor X Group.

Despite rapid growth in recent years, Chinese tech companies still face large gaps compared to international giants in market share, revenue scale, profitability, market value, and technology.

In the field of intelligent chips, according to Moorthrend’s first inquiry reply, in China’s AI chip market in 2024, Nvidia (full-function GPU) and AMD (GPGPU) together held 69.7% market share; Huawei HiSilicon (ASIC) held 21.4%, while Moorthrend’s share was below 1%.

A domestic chip industry insider told Caijing, “Compared to decades-old giants like Nvidia, Chinese chip companies are relatively young, with significant gaps in technology and market share. It’s difficult to catch up in the short term.”

In large models, according to Cui Shi, among the top 15 global large model companies in 2024, 10 are from the US, 4 from China, and 1 from the UK. US companies hold 66.1% of the market, while Chinese companies only 1.3%.

In core semiconductor equipment like lithography machines, the gap is even more evident. Data from Toubao Research shows that in 2024, the combined shipment of lithography machines was dominated by ASML, Canon, and Nikon, with market shares of approximately 61.2%, 34.1%, and 4.7%, respectively.

Currently, China’s lithography machines are highly dependent on imports. According to Toubao, in 2022, domestic lithography machine localization was less than 1%, the lowest among semiconductor equipment segments.

In terms of revenue and profitability, Nvidia’s 2026 fiscal year (ending January 25, 2026) reported revenue of $215.94 billion (about 1.49 trillion yuan), up 65% year-on-year; net profit was $120.07 billion (about 831.2 billion yuan), also up 65%. In contrast, China’s five listed AI chip companies, including Cambrian, had combined revenue of only about 3.2 billion yuan in 2024, less than 1% of Nvidia’s revenue, with all reporting losses.

As of March 20, 2026, Nvidia’s market value was 29 trillion yuan, 27 times that of China’s five AI chip firms combined.

Technologically, within the GPU industry, US companies like OpenAI, Meta, and xAI have achieved cluster scales of hundreds of thousands of cards, while Moorthrend and Suiyuan are still at the ten-thousand-card level, with others striving toward that.

“A major challenge for China’s AI chip industry is supply chain issues, especially capacity constraints,” said a domestic chip executive. “Foreign high-end chips like 3nm are sustainably supplied, but domestically, the most advanced process we can mass produce is 7nm, with limited output. Moreover, domestic chips still lag behind giants like Nvidia in ecosystem development.”

In commercial space, according to Blue Arrow’s prospectus, by the end of 2024, there were 11,605 in-orbit satellites globally, with the US accounting for 76% (8,813 satellites), and China for 9% (1,094 satellites).

“Currently, the most urgent need in China’s tech system is not for mature, profitable sectors but for long-cycle, high-uncertainty fields that determine long-term competitive advantage, such as biomedicine, high-end manufacturing, quantum communication, AI infrastructure, new energy storage, and other future industries,” Zhang Jun said.

Huang Tianyi pointed out that the main differences between US and Chinese tech companies lie in three aspects: first, business scale and market influence—US giants surpass Chinese firms; second, technological strength—US companies control core underlying technologies; third, application fields—Chinese firms lead in large models, autonomous driving, 5G, new energy vehicles, and photovoltaics, with potential to leapfrog in AI large models, quantum computing, and humanoid robots.

Strategic Anchor of National Policy

The new wave of tech IPOs, from a national strategic perspective, is a systematic arrangement to build an independent, controllable technological system and achieve self-reliance and self-strengthening.

“From a security logic, promoting tech company listings aims to empower breakthroughs in ‘bottleneck’ constraints through capital, solidify the foundation of national economic and technological security. By the end of 2025, China’s self-sufficiency rate of domestic semiconductor equipment was only 35%, with a clear gap to full domestic replacement. Under this context, the government has relaxed restrictions on IPOs for unprofitable AI and commercial space companies, using capital markets to support long-term, high-investment R&D,” Zhang Jun explained. “Huawei’s continuous ‘pressure-based’ R&D led to breakthroughs in seven key areas in 2025, including computing power and HarmonyOS, and its market share in China’s mobile phone market returned to No.1 after five years, exemplifying this strategic logic at the industry level.”

From recent years’ policies, China’s government has been actively supporting tech self-reliance.

2026 is the start of the “14th Five-Year Plan,” with a focus on accelerating high-level technological independence and self-strengthening. The March 2026 “14th Five-Year Plan” explicitly states the need to “accelerate high-level technological self-reliance, leading the development of new productive forces.”

The plan emphasizes taking extraordinary measures to push breakthroughs in key core technologies across the entire chain, including integrated circuits, industrial robots, high-end instruments, basic software, advanced materials, and biomanufacturing.

Regarding these “extraordinary measures,” Zhongchuang’s policy analyst Zheng Chen believes they may focus on four dimensions: first, extraordinary resource input—establishing national industrial investment funds worth trillions of yuan for long-term support; second, institutional innovation—building cross-departmental coordination mechanisms to integrate government, industry, academia, and research resources; third, policy tools—using government procurement and administrative orders to prioritize domestic chips, equipment, and software; fourth, strict implementation—setting clear timelines, roadmaps, and accountability for key projects.

A domestic chip firm confirmed, “Some government departments have already started procuring domestically produced chips.”

Before the “14th Five-Year Plan,” the 20th Party Congress set the goal of building a strong technological nation by 2035. During the “14th Five-Year Plan,” China’s tech development has made significant progress.

According to the Ministry of Finance, China’s fiscal tech expenditure reached 1.2 trillion yuan in 2025, up 4.8% year-on-year, reflecting unprecedented national financial support for tech independence.

Tian Lihui believes that from a strategic perspective, promoting intensive tech IPOs is a key step in implementing “high-level technological self-reliance.” These listed companies will serve as “anchors” and “hubs” in various strategic sectors, with their market value and competitiveness directly impacting China’s foundation and resilience in areas like computing power, AI, and space economy.

On the capital side, since 2025, reforms have supported tech firms’ financing, including the “1+6” policy reform of the STAR Market, expansion of tech-focused funds, and sector differentiation reforms, continuously improving market inclusiveness and service capacity for tech innovation.

In June 2025, the CSRC launched the “1+6” reform of the STAR Market, establishing the “STAR Growth Tier” and six supporting systems, systematically opening pathways for unprofitable but technologically breakthrough companies, becoming the core institutional driver of this tech IPO wave.

CSRC Chairman Wu Qing emphasized that innovation begins with technology, thrives in industry, and matures through capital. A vibrant, competitive capital market is increasingly vital for the development of the tech industry.

He called for deepening reforms of the STAR and ChiNext boards, developing diverse equity financing, and improving systems for identifying, screening, and pricing tech firms to support high-quality listings more precisely.

In May 2025, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the People’s Bank of China, the Financial Regulatory Authority, the CSRC, and other agencies jointly issued policies to accelerate the construction of a robust tech financial system, focusing on venture capital, monetary credit, and capital markets, aiming to guide financial capital toward early-stage, small, long-term tech innovation projects.

Data shows that policies have begun shifting private equity and venture capital toward “early, small, long-term, hard tech” investments, with initial results. According to the China Securities Investment Fund Association, by the end of 2025, China’s private equity fund assets reached 11.19 trillion yuan, and venture capital fund assets totaled 3.58 trillion yuan, providing solid capital support from seed to growth stages. Data from the Shanghai Stock Exchange indicates that the STAR Market has fostered a trend of “early, small, hard tech” investments, with about 90% of STAR-listed companies having received venture capital before listing, confirming the deep integration of capital and tech under policy guidance.

In Hong Kong, recent policies like the introduction of the 18A (for unprofitable biotech firms with at least one core product in concept stage) and 18C (supporting high-growth, high-potential tech firms without profits) have attracted more unprofitable high-tech companies to list successfully.

“As long as we continue along the path of encouraging innovation and empowering applications, improving the business environment and industrial ecology, China’s tech innovation will gradually lead the world,” Guan Qingyou said.

“Technology, domestic demand, and rebalancing will jointly shape China’s growth framework beyond 2026. Breakthroughs in hard tech and industrialization will be the most certain drivers of economic growth. The logic of tech IPOs will shift from ‘quantity expansion’ to ‘quality improvement,’ and China’s tech industry is moving from ‘Made in China’ to ‘Intelligent China,’” Zhang Jun stated.

Jiang Meijun added, “As history shows, when technological innovation breaks through traditional growth bottlenecks and creates new business models and value spaces, its influence is profound and lasting. China is at the starting point of this transformation, and the capital market will usher in a true long-term bull or slow bull market.”

Overall, under policy support, more tech companies will go public in the coming years. The wave of tech IPOs is seen as a tangible expression of national strategy in the capital market. Its core goal is to enable large-scale growth of enterprises, transforming from “technology introduction” to “independent innovation,” laying a microscopic foundation for building a secure and stable national tech infrastructure.