With the A-share IPO market heating up, Hong Kong-listed companies are getting restless.

The A-share IPO market is seeing a long-awaited burst of activity.

On one side, the fundraising end is warming up. In the first half of 2026, measured by the issuance date (the same applies below), the total amount raised through A-share IPOs reached 95.363 billion yuan—more than 2.5 times the figure from the same period last year. Large projects such as China Resources New Energy, HKC Corporation, and SJ Semiconductor have launched in a concentrated manner, propping up the financing scale of the A-share IPO market.

On the other side, the acceptance end is also heating up. In the first half of the year, the three major exchanges in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing accepted IPO applications from a total of 242 companies, a 37% year-on-year increase. The number of acceptances for the ChiNext and STAR Boards has clearly rebounded. The Beijing Stock Exchange remains the main force for submissions. Industries that were not active previously—such as chain pharmacies, civil aviation, and art—have reappeared on the acceptance lists.

The recovery of the A-share IPO market is also attracting more Hong Kong-listed companies. According to incomplete statistics from Xin Feng, in the first half of 2026, at least 5 companies have advanced their A-share IPOs: Zhipu, Paradigm Intelligence, MINIMAX, Yingen Bio, and Yingtai Medical.

The system is also providing more support. In June this year, Wu Qing, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, announced at the Lujiazui Forum that the applicability of the fifth set of listing standards for the STAR Board will be expanded to the field of artificial intelligence, with a focus on supporting high-quality AI large-model enterprises to list.

The revival of the IPO market has reshaped the underwriting landscape for investment banks.

In the first half of 2026, CICC topped the A-share IPO underwriting ranking with 30.074 billion yuan, marking its first time reaching the top in A-share IPO underwriting in nearly 5 years.

Whether this advantage can be sustained is set to become the biggest highlight in the IPO underwriting arena this year.

Rising acceptance; the gatekeeping is still undecided

This round of recovery in the A-share IPO market is inseparable from the support of large projects.

In the first half of 2026, China Resources New Energy ranked first with a fundraising scale of 24.499 billion yuan, becoming the largest project in the history of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. HKC Corporation and SJ Semiconductor followed with 8.493 billion yuan and 5.028 billion yuan, respectively. Together, the three companies raised more than 38 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 40% of the total IPO fundraising in the same period.

By comparison, in the first half of 2025, there were no A-share IPO projects at the 10-billion-yuan scale. Even Zhongce Rubber, which had the highest financing amount, raised only 4.066 billion yuan.

The recovery is also reflected on the acceptance side. In the first half of 2026, the three major exchanges in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing accepted a total of 242 IPO applications, a 37% year-on-year increase.

Among these, the most notable growth came from the ChiNext Board and the STAR Board. In the first half of 2026, they accepted 69 and 49 companies’ listing applications, respectively—up by more than 2 times and 1.3 times year-on-year.

The Beijing Stock Exchange, meanwhile, remains the main force in this acceptance surge. In the same period, it accepted listing applications from 102 companies in total, accounting for more than 40%.

Another signal worth paying attention to in the A-share IPO market in the first half of 2026 is that some industries that were previously not active have begun to reappear on the acceptance lists.

In the chain pharmacy sector, on June 28, Kangbaijia’s main-board IPO application was accepted. By the end of 2025, the company had more than 2,400 directly operated chain stores under its ownership.

“Actually, it’s quite surprising to see this project appear on the IPO acceptance list. In terms of performance, Kangbaijia’s results are not really more outstanding than those of existing listed chain pharmacies, and may even fall short of the average level. Whether that aligns with the positioning of the main board also needs to be observed,” a Beijing investment banker told Xin Feng.

Civil aviation also saw new progress. On June 2, Loong Air’s main-board IPO application was accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

If Loong Air successfully lists, it will become the first passenger airline to list on the A-share market in 8 years, following China Express Airlines in 2018.

An even more representative case is the art collectibles sector. On June 29, Zhu Bingren Copper’s listing application was accepted by the Beijing Stock Exchange. The company’s core business includes copper sculptures, copper buildings, copper decorations, and related cultural-and-creative products. The industry it is in has distinctive features of cultural consumption and non-heritage commercial characteristics.

If it succeeds in listing, Zhu Bingren Copper is expected to become the “first art company on the Beijing Stock Exchange.”

However, appearing on the acceptance list does not necessarily mean that an “industry breakthrough” will ultimately be realized.

In the first half of 2026, a total of 32 companies across the three major exchanges in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing terminated their IPO processes, a nearly 50% decrease year-on-year.

Although the number of terminations has fallen clearly compared with the same period last year, when looking at specific projects, many of them are precisely “industry breakthrough”-type companies that had been highly expected earlier.

Baifei Dairy is one such example. In June 2025, Baifei Dairy’s Shanghai Stock Exchange main-board IPO application was accepted. At one point, it was viewed as a landmark project indicating the return of food consumer companies to the Shanghai-Shenzhen IPO acceptance lists.

The uniqueness of this project is that since 2023, multiple consumer companies—including Yaomazi, Fresh Drink, and A-Kuán Foods—have successively withdrawn their IPO applications to Shanghai and Shenzhen. Specifically in the dairy products industry, after Sunshine Dairy listed on the main board in 2022, A-shares have gone for many years without seeing a dairy company successfully list.

But Baifei Dairy still voluntarily withdrew its IPO application in January this year, announcing the failure of its main-board IPO, and has now turned to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The interest in Jiang Song Technology came from a different kind of contrast.

This company mainly provides intelligent automation equipment for photovoltaic cell production. When its IPO was accepted, the photovoltaic industry chain was in a stage marked by supply-demand imbalance and downstream battery manufacturers facing pressure overall. Yet Jiang Song Technology’s performance still grew rapidly—revenue surged from 807 million yuan in 2022 to 2.019 billion yuan in 2024.

This contrast—“downstream businesses are losing money while upstream equipment providers are still growing”—once led Jiang Song Technology to be seen as a sample company in the photovoltaic industry chain with the ability to ride through cycles.

But the sustainability of this growth clearly raises questions. In February this year, Jiang Song Technology chose to voluntarily withdraw its application.

While the recovery of the A-share IPO market is opening up listing expectations for more industries, whether companies can truly knock on the door of listing still depends on whether they can answer more practical questions—such as sustainable operations, earnings quality, and segment/board positioning.

Two-way flow

In the first half of 2026, A-share companies remained the protagonists in the Hong Kong IPO market.

Meanwhile, as the top three in Hong Kong IPO fundraising, Shenghong Technology, Muyuan Foods, and Dongpeng Beverage reached 23.1 billion HKD, 12.1 billion HKD, and 11.1 billion HKD, respectively—totaling 46.3 billion HKD.

Among them, Shenghong Technology also made it into the global top 10 IPOs, with fundraising only behind SpaceX, AI chip manufacturer Cerebras Systems, and CSG.

In other words, these three A-share companies alone contributed nearly a quarter of the fundraising for Hong Kong IPOs.

“Many A-share companies have internationalization needs. A Hong Kong IPO can attract overseas investors and improve the company’s visibility overseas, and it’s also more convenient to build projects with fundraising going to overseas locations.” A Southern investment banker told Xin Feng. “More importantly, subsequent equity financing will also be very convenient.”

As the Hong Kong IPO market continues to heat up, the post-listing placing market has indeed been exceptionally active. In the first half of 2026, it reached 112.106 billion HKD—nearly twice as much as the entire year of 2024.

Against this backdrop, even A-share companies that had previously denied having plans for Hong Kong IPOs are getting antsy. For example, in May 2025, the chairman of Aier Eye Hospital had said there were no plans for a Hong Kong listing at that time. But less than a year later, it submitted an IPO application to the Hong Kong market, aiming to become the first “A+H” ophthalmology hospital.

Compared with A-share companies, non-listed companies going to Hong Kong face more compliance challenges, and the VIE structure is one of the key exam questions. According to Xin Feng’s communications with some companies, many companies using the VIE structure are still weighing whether they should dismantle it before listing.

“Based on the current situation, if they ask us whether to dismantle the VIE structure, we generally still recommend dismantling it; otherwise, it will add a lot of communication costs later.” A Southern investment banker told Xin Feng.

According to Xin Feng’s statistics, in the first half of this year, only Hangzhou’s “Six Little Dragons” group company Qunhe Technology, using a VIE structure, passed the CSRC filing.

But Qunhe Technology also has its own special characteristics.

On one hand, Qunhe Technology only entered into contractual control over its domestic entity Hangzhou Meijian, and Hangzhou Meijian’s contribution to performance is limited.

In 2025, Hangzhou Meijian accounted for 0.3% of Qunhe Technology’s revenue.

On the other hand, in the second half of 2025, Qunhe Technology began gradually exiting Hangzhou Meijian’s business, promising to adjust the equity structure of that entity within 6 months after listing.

This also means that a VIE structure is not completely impossible to pass, but without sufficiently special business structures and rectification arrangements, it may still become a hurdle that companies going for a Hong Kong IPO cannot avoid.

However, as A-share companies accelerate their southbound move, another reverse route is also heating up: companies that have already listed in Hong Kong are planning A-share IPOs.

According to Xin Feng’s incomplete statistics, in the first half of 2026, at least 5 companies announced the start of A-share IPO tutoring or had already completed tutoring. They are Zhipu, Paradigm Intelligence, MINIMAX, Yingen Bio, and Yingtai Medical.

Among them, Yingen Bio has already submitted its listing application to the exchange.

In addition, Liqin Resources—scheduled to have its case reviewed by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s Listing Committee in July this year—is also a Hong Kong-listed company.

This represents a bigger breakthrough than before. In December 2025, Biocytogen listed on the STAR Board. This was the first and only “H-first, then A” listed company since 2024.

Overall, in the first half of 2026, the IPO market showed more clearly a two-way flow: on one side, A-share companies leverage Hong Kong listings to open international financing channels; on the other, Hong Kong-listed companies return to the A-share market to seek higher valuations, stronger liquidity, and financing platforms that are more aligned with local industrial policies.

For companies that have not yet listed, this shift is also influencing their listing choices. Some star companies, during early planning, do not place all their bets on a single market. Instead, they evaluate both A-share and Hong Kong paths in parallel and advance on both fronts.

Kunlun Core, an AI chip company under Baidu, is a typical example of preparing with both hands.

In January 2026, Kunlun Core submitted its listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in a confidential manner, initiating its Hong Kong IPO process. Just 4 months later, it completed the STAR Board IPO tutoring filing and registration with the Beijing office of the CSRC.

This may also be the result of combined factors such as regulatory timelines, valuation expectations, and financing efficiency—prompting companies to configure their listing paths more flexibly: get listed in the market where you can list first; prioritize the market that can offer better financing efficiency.

Whoever gets the star projects wins?

The recovery of the IPO market has stirred up the underwriting landscape for investment banks.

In the first half of 2026, CICC ranked first in the A-share IPO market with underwriting volume of 30.074 billion yuan.

This is CICC’s first time topping the A-share IPO underwriting ranking in nearly 5 years, surpassing CITIC Securities, the long-standing “No. 1” leader.

CICC’s turnaround largely comes from its advantages in large-scale IPO projects.

In the first half of 2026, among the top 10 projects by A-share IPO financing amount, CICC accounted for half.

Specifically, among the top 10 projects, China Resources New Energy, HKC Corporation, Zhenshi Group, Shiya Technology, and Huikang Technology together raised more than 40 billion yuan. These projects have contributed substantial underwriting scale to CICC.

By contrast, CITIC Securities had less presence in large IPO projects in the first half of the year than CICC. Its main participation was in the 10-billion-yuan-scale project China Resources New Energy, but it was unable to further expand its advantage in other large-scale projects such as HKC Corporation.

This also led to rare changes in the investment bank ranking for A-share IPOs in the first half of 2026. In recent years, CITIC Securities had long maintained a leading position in the A-share IPO underwriting market, while CICC had maintained competitiveness more in the Hong Kong market. But this year’s first half saw large projects land in a concentrated manner, and CICC became the unquestioned dual king of both the A-share and Hong Kong IPO markets.

Compared with the first half of 2025, the top-10 lineup this time also included newcomers. For example, SDIC Securities and Zhongtai Securities ranked fifth and eighth, respectively, with year-on-year position improvements of 12 and 7; meanwhile, Dongwu Securities entering the top 10 achieved a breakthrough from zero.

Based on the pipeline of projects on hand, CICC still maintains a strong leading advantage for the second half of the year.

Currently, CICC’s large projects on hand are still full of highlights. For example, the combined IPO fundraising amounts for its sponsored companies Changxin Technology, PowerChina New Energy, LandSpace, Liqin Resources, and Tengtun Technology total 53 billion yuan.

Changxin Technology’s IPO fundraising is as high as 29.5 billion yuan, and it obtained CSRC registration in June this year. Liqin Resources’ IPO fundraising amount is 4.047 billion yuan, scheduled to go on the stage for review in July this year.

If everything goes smoothly, both are expected to list within the year, helping CICC keep climbing in the rankings.

CITIC Securities is also waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

In terms of star projects, if CITIC Securities wants to sprint for the top spot, it can only win by sheer volume. CITIC Securities’ star projects on hand include Super Fusion, Hikrobot, Suiyuan Technology, Unitree Robotics, and Yingen Bio. But the combined IPO fundraising amount for these five companies is only 28.3 billion yuan.

Moreover, besides Unitree Robotics, some of these star projects have not had an entirely smooth IPO journey. For instance, Hikrobot, a ChiNext IPO project sponsored by CITIC Securities, has been in the inquiry stage for more than 3 years since it was accepted in March 2023.

Overall, the 2026 A-share IPO underwriting king is likely to emerge between CICC and CITIC Securities.

However, other investment banks are also stepping up. For example, Guotai Junan is accelerating its pace in striving for high-quality projects. Previously, the Zhipu IPO project was jointly mentored by CICC and Guotai Junan, but in June this year, CICC “dropped out,” leaving Guotai Junan as the only tutoring institution.

For investment banks, the A-share IPO market’s recovery in the first half of 2026 has undoubtedly brought more incremental opportunities, but project differentiation is also becoming more obvious. Large projects remain the key variable in determining underwriting rankings. Whoever can secure more projects with substantial financing scale and strong industry recognizability is more likely to take the initiative in the next round of investment bank ranking competition.

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