This article only represents the author's own views.
The one-month window between the western and the lunar new years is usually a dead period for Chinese IPOs, as many candidates choose to make such listings when investors return to work after the two major holidays. But this year is shaping up quite differently, as a backlog of companies scramble to get to market in a climate that has suddenly become favorable after a pause of more than a year.
These past two weeks are typically the slowest part of the dead period, since they mark the final stretch before China and Hong Kong go on extended holidays to celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit that starts on Sunday. And yet two major new IPO filings have appeared in the U.S. during that time, including the most recent filed on Tuesday by Hesai Group, an autonomous driving technology company based in China’s commercial hub of Shanghai.