Just now, a super IPO was born in Xiamen.

Over 2.5 billion yuan in revenue in three years.

Author丨Lu Zhigao

Editor丨Wang Qingwu

Source丨Dongsi Shitiao Capital

A star company from Xiamen has officially landed on the Hong Kong stock market.

On March 30, under the leadership of 66-year-old returnee professor Zhao Jianhui, silicon carbide epitaxial wafer provider Hantian Cheng was listed in Hong Kong. As soon as the market opened, the company’s stock price rose over 42%, with a market capitalization exceeding 46.2 billion Hong Kong dollars, making it the largest IPO in Xiamen this year.

Due to its significant advantages in temperature stability, thermal conductivity, and other aspects, silicon carbide epitaxial wafers are widely used in downstream applications such as electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, renewable energy, energy storage systems, as well as in scenarios like household appliances, AI computing capabilities, data centers, smart grids, and eVTOL.

As a leading player in this field, Hantian Cheng’s success is inseparable from the support of Xiamen and numerous investors. In terms of policies and funding, Xiamen has provided substantial assistance for the development of this company, making it the first dual landing AIC fund investment project in Xiamen following the implementation of the AIC equity investment expansion pilot policy.

With the sound of the listing bell, shareholders including Sequoia Capital, Hubble Investment, Xiamen High-tech Investment, Xiamen Torch Group, Hefei Industry Investment Group, Zhenhong Fund, Hico Zhongheng, Puyuan Investment, Xincheng Zhongchuang, Ningbo Fuchi, Xiamen Jushenghua, Shanghai Tianli, Huiyou Investment, Zhongnan Venture Capital, China Resources Microelectronics, Yinrun Capital, Haitong New Energy, Zhezhong Co., Ltd., Qingda Haixia, Fuyu Investment, Junchen Capital, Shanghai Minshen Capital, Huajin Weiran, Dongzheng Capital, and others have also welcomed their moment of harvest.

Returnee professor starts a business, Xiamen gives birth to a star company

The story of Hantian Cheng begins with a 66-year-old returnee professor.

After graduating from the Department of Physics at Xiamen University, Zhao Jianhui obtained a Ph.D. in Electronics and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1988 and eventually became a tenured professor at Rutgers University in the United States.

His research and development in silicon carbide technology made him not only one of the earliest scholars to conduct research on third-generation semiconductor silicon carbide but also the first researcher in the world to be elected IEEE Fellow for significant contributions to silicon carbide technology research and industrial applications.

To allow people in China to benefit from the transformative development dividends brought by silicon carbide semiconductors and to realize “Made in China” core technologies for this industry, Zhao Jianhui gradually developed the idea of returning to China to start a business.

As a third-generation semiconductor material, silicon carbide is suitable for manufacturing high-frequency high-power devices that can withstand high temperatures, high pressure, and high current. In his view, silicon carbide semiconductors are not just a project but an industry, and they must become a fundamental core industry that a technological power cannot do without.

Finally, invited by Xiamen, which is vigorously developing the semiconductor and integrated circuit industry, Zhao Jianhui led a team to establish Hantian Cheng in Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone in 2011, embarking on the entrepreneurial path.

The choice of Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone was mainly due to the local unique position and advantages.

As a major area for the development of semiconductor and integrated circuit industries in Xiamen, Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone was approved by the State Council in 1991 as one of the first national-level high-tech zones in the country, and it is one of the three national high-tech zones named “Torch.”

By focusing on industries such as flat panel displays, semiconductors, and integrated circuits, Xiamen Torch High-tech Zone began to incubate and cultivate a number of quality enterprises around the integrated circuit industry in 2007, ultimately leading to the birth of Hantian Cheng.

Compared to traditional silicon wafers, silicon carbide epitaxial wafers have significant advantages in temperature stability, thermal conductivity, and other aspects. Using silicon carbide epitaxial wafers as a starting point, Hantian Cheng has achieved rapid development with the support of Xiamen.

In 2012, the company started to accept commercial orders for silicon carbide epitaxial wafers, becoming China’s first industrialized producer of 3-inch and 4-inch silicon carbide epitaxial wafers, filling a gap in this field domestically. Two years later, they became the first company in China to provide commercial 6-inch silicon carbide epitaxial wafers.

By 2023, Hantian Cheng officially began supplying 8-inch silicon carbide epitaxial wafers to global customers, achieving new breakthroughs in production capacity and sales. According to Zhenzhong Consulting, since 2023, based on annual sales volume, this company is the largest supplier of silicon carbide epitaxial wafers in the world.

After 15 years of development, Hantian Cheng has successfully listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, starting from Xiamen.

Selling silicon carbide epitaxial wafers, over 2.5 billion yuan in revenue in three years

To date, Hantian Cheng can provide 4-inch, 6-inch, and 8-inch silicon carbide epitaxial wafers.

After being used to manufacture power devices and other products, silicon carbide epitaxial wafers can ultimately be widely applied in downstream applications such as electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, renewable energy, energy storage systems, as well as in scenarios like household appliances, AI computing capabilities, data centers, smart grids, and eVTOL.

Since the quality of silicon carbide epitaxial wafers is crucial for downstream applications, the market has extremely high technical requirements for silicon carbide wafer providers. This also means that Hantian Cheng not only sells silicon carbide epitaxial wafers directly but also provides contract manufacturing services for silicon carbide epitaxial wafers.

The key to being able to operate in this way lies in their strong technical strength. With innovative technologies for producing 8-inch silicon carbide epitaxial wafers, Hantian Cheng can manufacture silicon carbide epitaxial wafers with high uniformity and low defect density, gaining recognition from 134 customers.

Four of the top five silicon carbide power device giants globally and seven of the top ten power device giants are their customers. The trust of numerous clients has led this company to sell nearly 600,000 silicon carbide epitaxial wafers.

However, due to fluctuations in downstream demand, capacity expansion cycles, and macroeconomic factors, the semiconductor industry has recently experienced a wave of destocking, which has had a significant impact on upstream Hantian Cheng.

Looking through the prospectus, the company’s performance has been in a state of fluctuation from 2022 to September 2025.

Their revenues reached approximately 441 million yuan, 1.143 billion yuan, 974 million yuan, and 535 million yuan, respectively. At the same time, Hantian Cheng’s gross profit margin has also been declining, dropping from 44.7% in 2022 to 34.1% in 2024.

During this process, their net profit has also been affected, decreasing from 128 million yuan in 2022 to 108 million yuan in 2023, and then increasing to 165 million yuan in 2024. By 2025, the company’s net profit for the first nine months was 21 million yuan.

Hantian Cheng believes that this adjustment is a cyclical correction in the semiconductor industry rather than a structural deterioration in the market, and it is expected to end in the second half of 2026.

Although the market is currently somewhat sluggish, the silicon carbide power device market still has significant growth potential. According to Zhenzhong Consulting, the market size for silicon carbide power devices is expected to reach 13.6 billion USD by 2029.

This also means that silicon carbide epitaxial providers like Hantian Cheng, which play an important role in this market, will also have vast development space.

Xiamen state-owned assets invest in a super IPO

Along the way, Hantian Cheng has garnered the favor of numerous investors.

At its inception, Zhao Jianhui invested in bipolar junction transistor-related technology and received support from Xiamen Taicheng Group Co., Ltd. At that time, both parties held a 50% stake.

In October 2014, the company received investments from Dongfeng Technology and Xiamen High-tech Investment. In January of the following year, Xiamen Torch Group became a shareholder of Hantian Cheng. Eleven months later, Dongfeng Technology invested in them again.

By February 2016, Hantian Cheng secured 32.5 million yuan from Zhenhong Fund. As time went on, the company introduced multiple investors in 2019, including Ningbo Fuchi, Xincheng Zhongchuang, Sequoia Capital, Xiamen Jushenghua, and Shanghai Tianli.

A year later, Hubble Investment made a move. In the same year, Hico Zhongheng, Xincheng Zhongchuang, Huiyou Investment, and China Resources Microelectronics also invested in Hantian Cheng. By 2021, the company had achieved profitability and received investments from Haitong New Energy and Zhezhong Co., Ltd.

With their performance continuing to improve and their business making breakthroughs, more investors have chosen to stand behind Hantian Cheng.

In 2022, Qingda Haixia, Yinrun Capital, Fuyu Investment, Junchen Capital, and Hefei Industry Investment Group became shareholders of Hantian Cheng. By 2023, they secured investments from Shanghai Minshen Capital, Huajin Weiran, Yinrun Capital, and Dongzheng Capital.

By December 2024, Hantian Cheng completed a 1.03 billion yuan Pre-IPO round of financing, with investors including Jinyuan Group, ICBC Investment, and ICBC Capital, resulting in a valuation of approximately 26.2 billion yuan. This was also the first dual landing AIC fund investment project in Xiamen following the implementation of the AIC equity investment expansion pilot policy.

The support of policies and the cultivation of the industry have made Xiamen a key city in the national integrated circuit planning layout. The local integrated circuit industry not only covers all aspects such as materials, equipment, design, manufacturing, and packaging but also sees its output value increase from 5 billion yuan in 2014 to 40 billion yuan in 2024.

Hantian Cheng has contributed to the development of Xiamen’s integrated circuit industry, and local support has enabled the company to achieve significant accomplishments. After years of hard work, Zhao Jianhui, leading Hantian Cheng, has also reaped rich rewards. Based on a market valuation of 46.2 billion Hong Kong dollars, his holdings of 28.85% before the listing now amount to over 13.3 billion Hong Kong dollars.