With investor frenzy, Shanghai Biren’s US$716.85 million Hong Kong IPO hits top pricing, drawing massive oversubscription as China steps up its push for AI chips.
Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaker Shanghai Biren Technology has raised HK$5.58 billion (about $716.85 million) through its initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, marking one of the largest tech listings of the year.
The company priced its IPO at HK$19.60 per share, placing it at the top end of the proposed range, and issued 284.8 million shares, according to an exchange filing released on December 31, 2025.
According to a Reuters report, investor response was exceptionally strong. Demand from institutional buyers was nearly 26 times the available allocation. At the same time, the retail tranche was oversubscribed about 2348 times, reflecting confidence in the firm’s growth prospects and China’s accelerating push toward semiconductor self-reliance.
Shanghai Biren’s listing follows successful public offerings by Chinese chip firms Moore Threads and MetaX, signalling rising investor appetite for domestic semiconductor companies as China works to counter tightening US export controls on advanced chips.
The company, founded in 2019, is led by co-founders Zhang Wen, former president of AI giant SenseTime, and Jiao Guofang, who previously worked with Qualcomm and Huawei.
Biren gained significant attention in 2022 after launching its first major products, including the BR100 AI processor, which it claimed could deliver performance comparable to NVIDIA’s H100, one of the most advanced AI chips globally.
The firm is regarded as a key contender in China’s efforts to reduce dependency on US technology and build a competitive domestic chip ecosystem.
The IPO also adds momentum to Hong Kong’s financial markets. The city has raised $36.5 billion from 114 listings in 2025, more than triple the approximately $11.3 billion raised in 2024, making it the strongest year since 2021, according to London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) data.
Shanghai Biren Technology’s shares are scheduled to begin trading on January 2, 2026.
