HKEX Insight

Hong Kong’s capital markets saw exceptional levels of activity in 2025, supported by outperformance of many listed shares, record turnover and strong Southbound Stock Connect trading.

2025 equity capital market (ECM) fundraising grew 164% year-on-year to US$103 billion, with IPOs and follow-on fundraising surging 231% and 136% year-on-year to US$37.4 billion and US$66 billion, respectively, according to Dealogic.

This performance took place against a vibrant secondary market backdrop: cash market average daily turnover rose 89.5% year-on-year and net flows through Stock Connect’s Southbound arm increased 74% in 2025 compared with the year before.

 

IPOs and follow-on offerings surged, as issuers at all stages of their fundraising journeys tapped Hong Kong’s capital markets.

Hong Kong finished 2025 as the world’s top IPO fundraising venue, raising US$37.4 billion across 119 listings, including two of the five largest IPOs globally. This was the city’s highest total since 2021 and exceeded the combined volume of the three previous years.

 

Aftermarket performance was strong, with average share price rising 23.8% one day and 30.7% one month post-IPO among listings US$100 million or larger – the best performance in nearly two decades, according to Dealogic and Bloomberg.

Their data also shows that follow-on fundraising in Hong Kong accelerated to US$66 billion, the highest level of follow-on issuance since 2021. This includes a record US$20 billion in equity-linked issuance.

Issuers launched landmark transactions, with 20 deals worth over US$1 billion, including the largest placement in the automotive industry globally and the world’s second-largest tech convertible bond deal.

 

The heightened activity came amid continuous market enhancements, including improved IPO price discovery and open market requirements that took effect from August 2025 which, among other benefits, introduced the fixed retail tranche and lowered large companies’ minimum initial public float requirements.

 

Hong Kong's 10 Largest IPOs of 2025

^{Source: Dealogic, January 2026}

An increasingly broad range of investors are taking part in Hong Kong's primary and secondary markets, from global institutional investors to Chinese Mainland retail participants.

This group, including sovereign wealth funds and long-only investors from Asia, Europe and North America made up half of the 20 most active ECM cornerstone investors in Hong Kong last year, according to HKEX and Dealogic.

2025 saw the most listings by international firms in the last five years, with issuers from the US, South East Asia and the Middle East choosing Hong Kong for their IPOs.

Nearly a fifth of all Hong Kong listings in 2025 were dual or multi-listings, with several US ADRs and a stream of A-to-H IPOs, including a world-leading Chinese Mainland battery maker that earmarked the bulk of proceeds for building a factory in Europe – one of a number of Chinese Mainland companies that leveraged a Hong Kong IPO in 2025 to expand their international footprint.

There were 19 A-to-H IPOs in 2025, which raised US$17.7 billion in total, according to Dealogic and Bloomberg. Among these were six H-share IPOs that raised over US$1 billion each, including a world-leading drug developer that became Hong Kong’s largest pharmaceutical sector debut in five years.

The dual-listing pathway has become a conduit for eligible companies listed on Chinese Mainland bourses to broaden their shareholder base and increase liquidity, with the one-month average turnover of A-shares for companies that completed A-to-H listings in 2025 increasing 9% on average, Bloomberg data shows.

Hong Kong reinforced its position as a diversified fundraising hub in 2025, ranking among the top global venues for fundraising across a range of sectors.

 

In the industrials and new energy sector, Hong Kong topped international league tables for IPO fundraising and ranked second for ECM issuance globally, with US$14.3 billion and US$24.7 billion in volumes, respectively, according to Dealogic and Bloomberg. The activity covered a range of verticals, with notable fundraising by a group of leading Chinese Mainland electric vehicle manufacturers and battery makers alongside the listing of one of the region’s leading logistics providers.

TMT issuance in Hong Kong surged to its highest since 2021, reaching US$34.5 billion, second globally for tech ECM fundraising, data from Dealogic and Bloomberg shows. IPOs in the sector raised US$7.9 billion and attracted robust investor demand with 13-fold institutional subscription and over 1,000-fold retail subscription among deals sized US$100 million or above. But follow-on offerings by TMT issuers accounted for most of the funding, raising US$26.6 billion across over 100 follow-on offerings including two of the five largest TMT deals globally in 2025.

2025 was a banner year for the healthcare and biotech sector with US$15.6 billion in ECM issuance – second globally and the highest level since 2021, according to Dealogic and Bloomberg. Follow-ons made up the vast majority of this activity, accounting for US$11.4 billion of total funds raised. By segment, biotech dominated, responsible for US$6.2 billion in fundraising.

 

Traditional sectors delivered standout deals as well, including the year’s largest consumer IPO globally and two of the biggest pure industrials listings in the world in 2025, according to Dealogic and Bloomberg.

In metals & mining, Hong Kong was the sector's top IPO venue globally in 2025 with US$5.4 billion in IPO fundraising, while ECM issuance reached US$9.5 billion – a 10-year high for the Hong Kong market.

2026 is off to a strong start for Hong Kong’s capital markets, with US$15.8 billion in ECM issuance year-to-date as of 30 January – around six times higher than the US$2.5 billion raised in the same period in 2025, according to Dealogic.

Companies along the AI value chain have accounted for a significant portion of IPO activity so far this year, laying the foundations for a vibrant AI issuer ecosystem in Hong Kong that gives investors direct access to leading innovators.  

As of end-January 2026, over 400 companies were in the listing pipeline, representing a diverse sector mix spanning healthcare, materials, TMT and industrials.

More than 50 companies under the 18A, 18C and 8A listing chapters were also among this group, including firms driving breakthroughs in cancer treatment, intelligent robotics and autonomous logistics.

And with initiatives such as the Technology Enterprises Channel (TECH) and a confidential filing option for specialist technology companies to facilitate listings, Hong Kong is set to sustain the fundraising momentum in cutting edge sectors from AI to biotech.

AI IPOs Drive a Strong Start to 2026		Hong Kong’s Next Decade of Connectivity		Advancing Hong Kong’s Capital Markets