Thanks to strong policy support, a favorable market environment and a sound innovation ecosystem, the virtuous cycle of tech, capital and industry is gaining greater momentum in China.

While global IPO markets stagnate in year-to-date 2025 — with listings down 11 percent by volume worldwide, the Chinese mainland's A-share market and the Hong Kong exchanges have emerged as twin engines of growth.

Recent EY data reveals the Hong Kong exchanges' staggering 711 percent year-on-year fundraising leap in the first half of 2025, capturing 24 percent of global IPO capital, while the A-share market posted double digit growth in both deal volume and value.

By sector, the industrial, technology, and materials sectors took the top three spots in both IPO volume and fundraising amount in the A-share market. Notably, among the IPOs listed in the first half of 2025 in the A-share market, more than 30 percent of companies belonged to upstream and downstream enterprises in the automotive industry.

As EY Greater China IPO Leader Terence Ho noted, the technology attribute of the A-share market is becoming increasingly prominent, with capital markets rapidly converging towards sci-tech enterprises. Domestic industrial upgrading has driven increased listing and financing needs of sci-tech innovation companies. Premium sci-tech enterprises that meet listing requirements are expected to be prioritized in the pipeline, aligning more precisely with the real economy's demand for high-quality development.

Meanwhile, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has repeatedly emphasized stronger support for high-quality yet unprofitable tech companies to list, indicating that institutional dividends for sci-tech innovation firms are expected to materialize at a faster pace and the listing and financing environment will continue to optimize.

This is underscored by CSRC Chairman Wu Qing's pledge at the recent Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai to "empower the integration of tech and industrial innovation through deepening the opening up and reform of capital market."

Statistics show that listed enterprises have emerged as a core engine of sci-tech innovation. In 2024, the R&D expenditure of A-share listed entities reached 1.88 trillion RMB, accounting for more than 50 percent of national R&D investment.

The innovation trajectory—ignited by technology, scaled by industry, and monetized through capital—has become increasingly evident.

The EY report projects that in the second half of 2025, A-share IPO activities will intensify focus on the sci-tech innovation sector. The listing prospects for sci-tech innovation enterprises remain promising.

As the path forward requires deeper integration of financial infrastructure with innovation ecosystems, tech-finance synergy is no longer optional — it's the cornerstone of competitive economies.