Shares in Victory Giant Technology surged as much as 60% on Tuesday, after the Chinese company’s blockbuster initial public offering — the biggest in Hong Kong this year.

The Chinese company, which supplies printed circuit boards to Nvidia, priced its shares at 209.88 Hong Kong dollars in the IPO. Shares were last trading 46% higher at HK$306.8.

Victory Giant had raised about HK$20.1 billion ($2.57 billion) in the city’s biggest listing in about seven months. This makes Victory Giant Hong Kong’s biggest IPO since Zijin Gold International’s $3.2 billion IPO in September.

Investor interest in large listings in Hong Kong has been growing, especially in tech-related sectors, which have remained resilient amid market volatility driven by the current Middle East conflict.

In the first quarter of 2026, Hong Kong’s IPO market raised HK$109.9 billion across 40 new listings, according to a KPMG report. This was nearly six times the amount raised and three times the number of new listings in the same period last year, KPMG said.

“Nearly 80% of funds raised came from A+H and specialist technology listings; both segments are expected to continue supporting strong IPO performance this year,” it added.

Some major IPOs on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange so far this year include Chinese chip designer Montage Technology, whose shares surged more than 60% on its trading debut in February.

Shares of China-based AI startup MiniMax Group also doubled on its first day of trading in Hong Kong, becoming the second major Chinese developer of large language models to go public.

On Thursday, Shares of Hangzhou-based developer, Manycore Tech, the first of Hangzhou’s “six little dragons,” tripled in its Hong Kong debut.

BEIJING — An Alibaba-backed AI startup is currently being valued at $4.8 billion in a fresh funding round, two people with knowledge of the deal said, just weeks after it was valued at $4.3 billion.

Moonshot AI is the company behind the Kimi chatbot, which surged in popularity in China months before DeepSeek’s release last year.

Since Moonshot’s previous in December, rival Chinese AI companies — Zhipu and MiniMax — surged after going public in Hong Kong.

The sources told CNBC that Moonshot was closing a funding round that will value it at least $500 million higher than the December round. The sources said the round would likely close soon due to high demand.

Both asked to remain anonymous while discussing private information. Moonshot AI had not responded to a request for comment as this article went live.

The sources added that the company could be valued even higher in subsequent rounds that could follow, due to a surge of interest in Chinese AI IPO candidates.

Chinese AI companies have particularly boomed as U.S. AI chatbots, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, aren’t officially available in mainland China.

Beijing restricts access to many U.S.-based internet services, while American companies have faced growing restrictions from the White House on doing business with China.

The previous funding round was announced on Dec. 31. IDG, Alibaba and Tencent participated in it, according to Chinese financial news outlet LatePost.

Moonshot AI has not commented on any plans for an IPO.

Zhipu, listed under the name Knowledge Atlas, had a market value of $13 billion as of Monday’s close, according to Wind Information data. MiniMax was worth $15.2 billion, the data showed.

China-based AI startup MiniMax surged as much as 90% on its first day of trading in Hong Kong on Friday, becoming the second major Chinese developer of large language models to go public. 

The company raised HK$4.8 billion ($620 million) in its IPO, outperforming its local rival Zhipu AI, which had listed in Hong Kong just one day earlier and rose a modest 13% on its first day of trade.

MiniMax shares were last trading at HK$290.8 per share, compared with the offer price of HK$165.

Both MiniMax and Zhipu are part of China’s so-called “AI tigers”— startups building large language models to rival American AI giants like OpenAI, which they’ve now beaten to going public.  

Founded in 2021 and backed by Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings, MiniMax also specializes in AI applications, including chatbots, image generation and video synthesis. 

Minimax said it would use the IPO proceeds for research and development.

The debut comes as Chinese AI-related firms ramp up fundraising efforts to compete with U.S. rivals and navigate Washington’s export curbs on advanced chips used for AI training to China. 

Chinese tech giant Baidu plans to spin off its artificial intelligence chip subsidiary, Kunlunxin, and list it in Hong Kong, as more domestic chipmakers seek funds amid Beijing’s push for semiconductor self-sufficiency.

The company said in an announcement Friday that it had confidentially filed a listing application on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, though details of the offering, including size and structure, remain undecided.

The move would still require regulatory approvals, including from China’s securities watchdog. Baidu emphasized there is no guarantee the spin-off will proceed. The company reportedly owns about 59% of Kunlunxin.

Baidu, a major player in China’s growing AI space, is both a buyer of specialized AI chips for data centers and cloud computing, as well as a designer of them through Kunlunxin.

The firm said that the spin-off would align with its strategy to highlight Kunlunxin’s standalone potential, attract sector-specific investors, and expand financing options. Kunlunxin would remain a Baidu subsidiary, it added.

The move comes against a backdrop of intensifying U.S.-China tech tensions. Both Washington and Beijing have imposed various restrictions on Chinese AI companies’ access to leading-edge AI chips from California-based Nvidia.

Meanwhile, Beijing has increasingly encouraged domestic chip purchases and mobilized billions in public funds towards development.

In recent months, several Chinese chipmakers have announced plans to list, including Moore Threads and Biren Technology.

China’s Pony.ai on Thursday saw its shares drop over 14%, while rival WeRide fell nearly 12% as the autonomous driving companies began trading in Hong Kong.

Pony.ai and WeRide, which are already listed in the U.S., raised 6.71 billion Hong Kong dollars (about $860 million) and HK$2.39 billion, respectively, in their initial public offerings.

The companies are striving to keep pace with larger competitors such as Baidu‘s Apollo Go in China and Alphabet‘s Waymo in the U.S. amid growing interest in autonomous technologies.

Pony.ai and WeRide, both headquartered in Guangzhou, China, stated that funds would go toward scaling efforts, and the development of Level 4 autonomous driving — a measure of driving automation that does not require human monitoring or intervention under specific environments. 

WeRide CEO Tony Xu Han told CNBC that proceeds from the latest fundraising would also be used to boost the company’s artificial intelligence capabilities and data center capacity, while Pony.ai CEO James Peng emphasized on building autonomous-driving parking and charging infrastructure, besides AI development.

The CEOs stressed on driver safety as their companies seek global expansion, including in their home markets of China, where they have already begun operating fully autonomous robotaxis in some cities. 

New regions the companies are expanding to include the Middle East, Europe and Asian countries such as Singapore. They have yet to receive full approvals to operate their robotaxis in most of those regions.

The permits that both companies have received to test and operate their self-driving vehicles became a contentious issue in the lead up to the listings.

According to local Chinese media reports, WeRide CFO Li Xuan claimed last week that Pony.ai had misinformed investors by understating the number of cities where WeRide had operations, among other issues.

Pony.ai did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.

In the U.S., both companies are aiming for a partnership with California-based Uber to allow them to deploy their robotaxis on the firm’s ride-hailing platform after receiving regulatory approval.  

However, their U.S. plans face headwinds as earlier this year the government finalized a rule effectively banning Chinese technology in connected vehicles, including self-driving systems. 

“With the uncertainty in the markets around the world and the fact that there would be intense scrutiny on a Pony or WeRide trying to enter the U.S. market, a dual listing is a lot about risk mitigation,” said Tu Le, founder and managing director at Sino Auto Insights. 

He added that the listings were also an acknowledgement that it’s gonna take a lot of capital and an endorsement of a market outside the U.S. for Pony.ai and WeRide to succeed.

In U.S. trading on Wednesday, Pony.ai closed down about 2%, while WeRide fell 5.3%.

According to New Street Research’s Bulk, the Hong Kong listings for Pony.ai and WeRide will help the companies gain access to Asia-based capital and expand their presence in China and the region.

“However, it will do nothing to advance the progress of their technology stack and regulatory approvals in Western markets. If anything, gaining approval in Western markets may be more challenging with a HK secondary listing,” he added. 

The listings could also help the firms keep up with competitors such as Baidu’s Apollo Go in China and Alphabet’s Waymo in the U.S., which currently have larger fleets. 

“Pony and WeRide are right up there among the global leaders,” said Sino Auto Insights’ Le. “WeRide has diversified their service portfolio a bit more but they both see Uber and the Middle East as two viable partners in their ability to get more pilots launched outside of China.”

“Investors should pay special attention to how their technology evolves with AI and other new tools becoming more mainstream,” Le said.

— CNBC’s Elaine Yu and Anniek Bao contributed to this report.

Eric Trump said Friday he is certain bitcoin will eventually hit a $1 million valuation as he spoke at a Hong Kong conference, marking the first of a series of Asian crypto events that will feature U.S. President Donald Trump’s sons.

Speaking at Hong Kong’s Bitcoin Asia 2025 conference, Eric Trump discussed his strong involvement in the crypto space.

“I really believe in the next several years, Bitcoin hits a million dollars. There’s no question,” he said, adding that 90% of his time is now spent with the crypto community. 

During his panel, the American businessman and former reality TV presenter also showered praise on Simon Gerovich, president and CEO of Japanese Bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet. Eric joined the Tokyo-listed company’s board of advisors earlier this year. 

Bitcoin’s price has risen about 86% in the last 12 months amid buoyant investor sentiment surrounding President’s Trump’s election victory and a more positive U.S. regulatory environment on crypto. However, it’s worth noting that cryptocurrencies generally can be highly volatile and the space has been shrouded in the past by illicit activity and corporate scandals. In 2022, bitcoin and other digital currencies slumped sharply after a slew of major crypto companies went bankrupt.

Later in September, both Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. are expected to speak at a South Korean crypto conference, and the pair is slated to appear as key speakers at Singapore’s Token 2049, one of the world’s largest crypto events.

Once a skeptic of cryptocurrencies, President Trump has also embraced the crypto industry, branding himself as the first “crypto president.” 

“The Bitcoin community embraced my father unlike anything I had ever seen before,” Eric Trump said Friday adding: “And I hope that’s paid off in spades.”

The Trump administration has launched a number of executive orders and backed policies welcomed by the digital asset industry and has filled his cabinet with crypto advocates like David Sacks, the White House’s AI and crypto czar. 

Trump has also been involved in crypto business ventures, including World Liberty Financial and his $TRUMP meme coin, leading to accusations of corruption and self-dealing from opposition lawmakers, as well as calls for ethics investigations.

Given the shared interests between the American president and his son’s crypto activities, market watchers will be monitoring how the two brothers are received by government officials during their Asia tour. 

The visits come against the backdrop of President Trump’s ongoing global trade war, which has made Asia a major target.  

A Hong Kong official and a lawmaker withdrew from a Bitcoin Asia conference in the city following advice not to engage with Eric Trump, the South China Morning Post reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. 

An archived version of the event webpage confirmed that Eric Yip, executive director at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), and lawmaker Johnny Ng had previously been on the list of speakers for the event, before being removed. 

The SFC told CNBC that Yip was unable to attend the event because of a business trip, while the South China Morning Post reported that Ng said he withdrew for family reasons. 

The Hong Kong legislative council did not respond to a request for comment from CNBC.

– CNBC’s Ryan Browne contributed to this report.

Hong Kong passed a stablecoin bill on Wednesday to expand its cryptocurrency licensing regime as more governments recognize the digital asset.

Unlike volatile digital assets like bitcoin, the value of stablecoins is tied to a real-world asset like fiat currencies or commodities like gold.

The new law — focused on fiat-referenced stablecoins — will require stablecoin issuers to obtain a license from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and comply with a range of requirements, including proper management of asset reserves and segregation of client assets.

It will “enhance Hong Kong’s existing regulatory framework on virtual-asset (VA) activities, thereby fostering financial stability and encouraging financial innovation,” the central banking body said. It added that it would conduct further consultations on the detailed regulatory framework.

The Hong Kong government said in a statement that the stablecoins policy is expected to come into effect this year, with “sufficient time” allowed for the industry to understand the requirements.

In 2023, Hong Kong introduced its virtual asset licensing regime, which requires cryptocurrency firms with an official presence in the city to apply for licenses and meet specific standards and requirements to offer digital assets to retail investors in the city. However, the existing policy did not include stablecoins in its purview. 

“Hong Kong’s new stablecoin policy sets a global benchmark by mandating full reserve backing, strict redemption guarantees, and HKMA oversight,” YeFeng Gong, risk and strategy director of HashKey OTC, told CNBC. HashKey OTC is a trading arm of the HashKey Group, which has a licensed crypto platform in Hong Kong.

The policy “ensures institutional-grade reliability for traders while positioning Hong Kong as a leader in compliant digital finance,” he added. 

The move from Hong Kong comes just days after the U.S. Senate advanced the GENIUS Act, which would establish the first regulatory framework for issuers of stablecoins if implemented.

A push to regulate stablecoins has been intensifying globally, with other jurisdictions having also implemented their own regulatory frameworks, including the European Union, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Japan, blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis said in a report on Wednesday.

Chengyi Ong, head of Asia-Pacific policy at Chainalysis, told CNBC that the latest regulations are expected to help with crypto adoption and legitimacy. 

“[Stablecoins] form the backbone of the crypto ecosystem, but their stability also opens the door to their use in overcoming frictions dogging traditional finance, such as slow cross-border payments and settlement,” Ong said.

“This potentially transformative utility is what has driven governments around the world, from Europe to Asia, to take steps toward regulatory regimes that will facilitate the emergence of high-quality stablecoins,” she added.

According to Chainalysis, the total market cap of stablecoins is around $232 billion as of this month.