The tide of offshore listings by Chinese companies turned sharply back to Asia in 2025, lifting Hong Kong to the world’s leading IPO market in terms of fundraising for the year, as New York rapidly lost momentum. Policy shifts, both at the government and stock exchange levels, were the main driver of the sea change, leading many to forecast the shift would accelerate this year and continue into the foreseeable future.
Companies, the vast majority of them Chinese, raised about HK$280 billion ($36 billion) through Hong Kong IPOs last year, equal to nearly a quarter of the roughly $160 billion raised worldwide, according to annual reports by the world’s top accounting firms. That made Hong Kong the world’s top IPO market by fundraising, ahead of the Nasdaq, which was the second with about $26 billion raised, according to Deloitte.
The banner year ends a losing streak that saw Hong Kong raise just HK$239 billion in the previous three years combined. Much of that poor performance owed to China’s rapidly slowing economy, compounded by deteriorating relations between China and the West, most notably with the U.S.