China went from uninvestable to unavoidable—and Hong Kong is cashing in with a slew of AI-centric IPOs

Hong Kong's IPO market surged to $14 billion in Q1 2026, up 490% year-on-year, driven by Chinese AI companies. Frontier AI labs MiniMax and Z.ai debuted in early January with exceptional returns (500%+ and 700% respectively) despite sub-$100M revenue and ongoing losses. Industry analysts view this as Hong Kong and Beijing positioning themselves as a capital hub for Chinese AI, comparable to Nasdaq's role in the internet era.