HKEX Insight

As global capital looks to Asia for opportunities, Hong Kong is welcoming more international issuers and investors – contributing to a more diverse, liquid and vibrant fundraising environment and reinforcing the city’s role as a global financial centre.

Dealogic data show that international companies raised over US$5 billion via primary listings in Hong Kong in 2025, marking the best year for international listings since 2020 and taking the number of Hong Kong-listed international companies to more than 150 as of March 2026.

After three listings by international companies in 2024, seven companies from Thailand, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the United States chose Hong Kong to host their listings in 2025, and two of those companies listing in 2025 went on to complete primary placements.

The profile of international companies listing in Hong Kong is broadening in other ways as well, branching out from finance industry stalwarts and regional multi-national company spin-offs towards a more varied sector split.

The city’s first biotech-sector listings by international companies occurred in 2025, alongside several listings by international issuers in mining and consumer sectors.

According to public IPO application filings by international TMT, industrial and consumer companies as of March 2026, the sectoral mix of Hong Kong’s issuer base is positioned to continue diversifying, supported by listing enhancements to improve IPO timing visibility.

International companies are drawn in part to the liquidity of Hong Kong’s markets, where cash market average daily turnover (ADT) has more than doubled since 2023 to reach HK$249.8 billion in 2025, according to HKEX data.

A confluence of capital flows from the Chinese Mainland and around the world underpins this momentum, and for eligible international companies, a Hong Kong primary listing has brought access to Chinese Mainland investors through the Stock Connect mutual market access programme.

Stock Connect’s Southbound arm had a strong year in 2025, accounting for 23.0% of ADT at the end of Q4 2025, according to HKEX data – underscoring its role as a source of liquidity for Hong Kong’s cash markets.

International investors from around the world have also been increasingly active, representing a diverse range of countries and strategies, from first-time cornerstone investors to seasoned institutional participants.

Since 2024, international institutional investors – as well as Chinese Mainland investors – have been among the biggest shareholders in Hong Kong listings, and last year, over 270 international institutional investors served as cornerstone investors in IPOs in the city.

 

Long-only and sovereign wealth funds were especially active, according to our analysis of the 20 most active international IPO cornerstone investors – excluding those from the Chinese Mainland – and they've consistently continued to add positions post-IPO.

As of 6 March 2026, IPO issuance in Hong Kong totals US$11.6 billion year-to-date, compared with US$1.5 billion in the same period in 2025, according to Dealogic – making up 68% of total IPO fundraising in the Asia-Pacific region year-to-date.

The city’s listing pipeline includes prospective issuers from multiple continents and a wide range of sectors, from TMT and consumer to healthcare and industrial.



At the same time, HKEX has been continuing to deepen ties with global exchanges and facilitate cross-listings through its Recognised Stock Exchange list, which encompasses 20 exchanges from 18 countries and opens the door for eligible companies to tap the deep liquidity of Hong Kong’s markets and drive growth.

The activity of international investors is continuing to grow as well. International cornerstone investors have participated in more than three-quarters of IPOs¹ for the year up to 6 March 2026, compared with 63% across all of 2025. They have taken a sizeable role in the recent surge of AI sector listings – committing nearly 30% of the US$2.5 billion cumulatively raised by AI modeling and training companies Biren Technology, Zhipu, Iluvatar and MiniMax.

For all this and more, the diversity and vibrancy of Hong Kong’s equity and capital markets look set to advance in 2026 and beyond – and HKEX Insight’s ECM Series will explore how in our next instalments.

 

 

1. Including Hong Kong IPOs with deal size of US$100 million or above.

Stock Connect 2025 Review		Markets in Motion Series: Episode 2		Hong Kong ECM 2025 Recap: Liquidity, Listings and Record‑Scale Equity Issuance