China's Securities Regulator Opens Mainland Exchanges to AI Companies and Hong Kong Issuers

China's top securities regulator has set a course to actively bring AI companies to list on mainland exchanges, and has invited Hong Kong-listed firms to consider dual listings. The initiative aims to strengthen domestic capital markets at a time when the country's AI sector is attracting record investment and preparing a new wave of public offerings.

Green light for AI developers

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has sent a clear signal to the tech sector: AI developers can count on the regulator's support when listing on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges. Until now, many Chinese AI startups preferred Hong Kong or US venues, where liquidity is higher, it is easier to attract international investors and there are fewer operational restrictions. Companies such as MiniMax, Zhipu AI and Moonshot AI have raised billions of yuan from private investors for years while staying out of the public markets.

Over recent years of reform, the regulator has simplified listing procedures, shortened application review times and allowed loss-making companies in priority sectors, including AI, semiconductors and biotechnology, to go public. The new statement gives this course political weight and targets it at a specific industry.

Hong Kong companies in focus

At the same time, the CSRC has urged Hong Kong-listed companies to consider a dual listing or a move to mainland China's exchanges. For players such as Alibaba, Meituan and Kuaishou, the Hong Kong exchange has long been the main or only public venue. A dual listing offers several advantages at once:

• Access to more than 220 million retail investors in mainland China, a base closed to purely Hong Kong-listed firms
• Inclusion in the Shanghai and Shenzhen Composite indexes, with automatic inflows from index funds
• Northbound Stock Connect provides two-way flows of foreign capital
• Potentially higher valuation multiples for tech sectors on the domestic market
• Access to state and quasi-state institutional investors focused on A-shares

After the 2023–2024 reforms, barriers to dual listing fell significantly. Alibaba has already completed an additional listing on the Shanghai exchange, setting a precedent for other large tech companies.

The IPO market restarts

In 2023–2024, the CSRC effectively froze most new offerings to stabilize the market after a period of volatility. New listing volumes fell to decade lows. Now the regulator is steadily opening the tap again, but selectively: AI, semiconductors and green energy get priority.

After a number of Chinese tech companies ran into listing restrictions in the US in 2021–2022, the domestic market and Hong Kong became the only way out. The CSRC is now actively competing with HKEX to host the most valuable AI offerings, and it is doing so through direct political signals.

At the same time, the state is increasing its investment in AI infrastructure: chip production, supercomputers and large language models. Bringing AI companies to the stock market has a double effect: fresh capital flows into the targeted industries, and through listing requirements the state gains additional levers of influence over strategic companies.

What this means

China's IPO market is restarting with a clear AI priority. For developers, this is a green light and, likely, a faster regulatory path. For international investors, it signals that the flow of Chinese AI offerings on mainland exchanges may grow noticeably in the coming quarters.