Shein set to debut in Hong Kong amid China’s $54B IPO boom

Chinese stock markets are riding a wave of new public offerings fueled by investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence and robotics, with combined IPO proceeds in Hong Kong and Shanghai already surpassing all of 2025's fundraising totals.

IPOs and secondary listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and Shanghai exchanges have raised more than $54 billion so far in 2026, exceeding last year's total of over $46 billion, according to data from LSEG cited by the Associated Press. Combined, the two markets account for roughly 21% of global IPO proceeds this year, trailing only the Nasdaq ↘ 1.85%, which captured about 55% of the global share, boosted by SpaceX's $75 billion IPO in June.fortune+1

Blockbuster Debuts Drive the Surge

The boom has been anchored by a string of explosive first-day performances from technology companies. In July, CXMT, China's largest memory chipmaker, raised more than $8.6 billion in Shanghai in one of the mainland's largest-ever IPOs. Its shares surged 466% on the first day of trading. The company's revenue jumped more than 700% year-on-year to 50.8 billion yuan, or about $7.5 billion, in the first quarter of 2026, driven by soaring demand for chips used in AI applications.mymotherlode+2

Humanoid robot maker Unitree followed in August with a Shanghai debut that saw shares climb 460% on their first trading day. Other robotics firms, including AGIBOT and Deep Robotics, are also considering listings in Hong Kong or Shanghai.mymotherlode

"The current IPO boom is powered by investor appetite for AI and robotics," said Ruiying Zhao, a senior research analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence ↘ 1.57%. CXMT's listing "placed China in a strategically significant position in tech manufacturing related to AI," added Perris Lee, head of APAC equity capital markets for ION Analytics.fortune+1

Shein Lists Amid Bubble Concerns

Against this backdrop, fast-fashion giant Shein is set to debut on the Hong Kong exchange on Tuesday in a $1.7 billion IPO, one of the city's largest this year. The listing values the company at around $27 billion, well below its peak valuation from several years ago, partly reflecting U.S. and EU moves to restrict de minimis tax exemptions for small-package imports.fortune+1

Yet Shein's offering highlights a divide in investor sentiment. "The AI investment cycle is absorbing much of the risk appetite that would have otherwise flowed to a company like Shein," said Jacob Cooke, CEO of WPIC Marketing + Technologies.mymotherlode

There are also signs the frenzy may be cooling. Unitree's share price had fallen more than 40% from its debut-day peak as of last Friday. "The critical question remains: is the AI sentiment enough?" Zhao said. "For a durable market cycle, investors will demand sustainable revenue, visible profit margins, and realistic valuations."tradingview+1