Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX): International companies flock to Hong Kong for listing, further solidifying Hong Kong's position as a global financial center.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange mentioned in the article "Equity Capital Market Series: Hong Kong Market - Gathering International Issuers, Attracting Global Capital" that as global capital turns its attention to the Asian region in search of investment opportunities, more and more international issuers and investors are participating in the Hong Kong market. This makes the Hong Kong financing market more diverse, liquid, and dynamic, further solidifying Hong Kong's position as a global financial center. Data from Dealogic shows that international companies listed on the Hong Kong market as main listings have raised over $5 billion in total capital since 2025, the highest since 2020. As of March 2026, the number of international companies listed in Hong Kong has exceeded 150. Increase in the number of international companies listing in Hong Kong in 2025 Following three international companies listing in Hong Kong in 2024, in 2025 companies from Thailand, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Singapore, the UAE, and the US have chosen to list in Hong Kong, with two of them subsequently completing additional offer placements for financing. The types of international companies listed in Hong Kong have also expanded to different fields gradually, no longer limited to financial industry giants and regional multinational corporations splits, but are moving towards a more diversified industry structure. In 2025, international companies from the biotechnology industry listed in Hong Kong for the first time, while there were also many international issuers from the mining and consumer industries going public at the same time. As of March 2026, many international companies in the TMT (technology, media, and telecommunications), industrial, and consumer industries have submitted listing applications. HKEX is committed to optimizing the listing mechanism, including enhancing the transparency of the timeline for review of initial public offerings, and it is expected that the industries covered by the Hong Kong market issuer population will become more diverse. According to HKEX data, since 2023, the average daily turnover of the Hong Kong spot market has more than doubled, reaching $249.8 billion in 2025, which has in some ways attracted international companies to list in Hong Kong. Capital from mainland China and global markets converge and flow in Hong Kong, further driving the participation of international companies in the Hong Kong market. International companies listed as main listings in Hong Kong and meeting specific qualifications will be able to access mainland China investors through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect. According to HKEX data, as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, the turnover of Stock Connect accounted for 23.0% of the average daily turnover of the Hong Kong spot market. Stock Connect performed strongly in 2025, injecting abundant liquidity into the Hong Kong spot market, and its key role became more evident. Increasingly active international investors The involvement of international investors is also increasing. They come from different countries around the world and adopt diverse investment strategies, including cornerstone investors participating for the first time and experienced institutional investors. Since 2024, international institutional investors and mainland Chinese investors have become important shareholder groups of new listings in Hong Kong. Last year, more than 270 international institutional investors participated in Hong Kong's initial public offering activities as cornerstone investors. These international investors who participated in the new listing activities in Hong Kong as cornerstone investors (excluding mainland Chinese investors), HKEX analyzed the 20 most active among them and found that long funds and sovereign wealth funds were particularly active and continued to increase their holdings after listing. Outlook for the future According to Dealogic data, as of March 6, 2026, the total proceeds from IPOs in Hong Kong have reached $11.6 billion (compared to $1.5 billion in the same period in 2025), accounting for 68% of the total proceeds from IPOs in the Asia-Pacific region since the beginning of the year. Currently, companies queuing to go public in Hong Kong come from various countries and regions, including industries such as TMT, consumption, healthcare, and industrial. At the same time, HKEX continues to deepen its connections with global exchanges, actively promoting and facilitating companies listed on its list of recognized stock exchanges to have secondary listings in Hong Kong. The list of recognized stock exchanges by HKEX includes 20 exchanges from 18 countries, opening the door to the Hong Kong market for qualified companies, helping them connect with ample liquidity in the Hong Kong market, and driving further growth. International investors are also increasingly actively involved in the Hong Kong market. In the period from the beginning of 2026 until March 6, in more than three-quarters of the new listings, international investors participated as cornerstone investors (compared to 63% in 2025). They have been actively participating in the recent wave of listings of artificial intelligence companies - in the total fundraising of $2.5 billion for companies such as BIREN TECH, KNOWLEDGE ATLAS, ILUVATAR COREX, and MiniMax in AI modeling and training, international investors accounted for nearly 30%.