An illustration photograph reveals Moore Threads brand in a smartphone in Suqian, Jiangsu Province, China on October 30, 2025.
Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Pictures
China’s hottest artificial-intelligence listings are delivering eye-popping positive factors.
Shares of chipmaker MetaX Built-in Circuits skyrocketed virtually 700% of their Shanghai market debut final week, whereas Moore Threads soared over 400% on its first day of buying and selling earlier this month.
Whereas home traders scramble for publicity to promising Chinese language tech listings, abroad traders are largely disregarded from partaking in such blockbuster choices.
International retail traders specifically are shut out of mainland China IPOs: “It isn’t even attainable. Except they open up an account with a Chinese language dealer,” mentioned Chris Zhang, govt director at Chinese language monetary companies agency China Fortune Securities Firm.
Opening an onshore brokerage account with a Chinese language securities agency requires a linked Chinese language checking account, which usually requires a proof of residence in China, or a Chinese language visa with ample validity. Foreigners additionally must already maintain different mainland-listed shares earlier than being eligible to take part in an IPO lottery.
Most international banks would not have the mandatory preparations with Chinese language brokers to help account openings, Zhang mentioned, making the method unworkable for the overwhelming majority of abroad retail traders.
Official steering from Shanghai’s metropolis authorities states that solely a slender set of international people can instantly open brokerage accounts for A-shares — shares listed in mainland China. For instance, foreigners with everlasting resident standing, employees in China, or foreigners working overseas with fairness incentive plans in A-share listed firms.
For a lot of international traders, Inventory Join, a program that enables Hong Kong and mainland Chinese language exchanges mutual entry to one another’s shares, is essentially the most handy option to achieve publicity to Chinese language equities.
It permits abroad traders to purchase A-shares by way of their Hong Kong brokers while not having an onshore account, or particular licenses— however the scheme provides little assist in relation to IPOs, and even freshly listed shares. Entry additionally is dependent upon Hong Kong brokers’ eligibility necessities, similar to minimal account balances and danger disclosures.
“Inventory Join doesn’t work as a result of newly listed shares usually are not included in Inventory Join as but. Normally it takes just a few weeks to months ought to the shares qualify,” mentioned Theodore Shou, chief funding officer at Skybound Capital.
Inclusion of firms in the Inventory Join scheme is dependent upon whether or not a inventory meets the eligibility guidelines similar to ample buying and selling exercise and market worth, which regularly requires a interval of buying and selling and information historical past for qualifying.
Institutional publicity
Northbound buying and selling, which refers to abroad and Hong Kong traders shopping for mainland China shares through Inventory Join and different schemes, won’t be out there till “usually a number of months after any itemizing,” Shou mentioned. Even then, it is not a assure that Moore Threads and MetaX can be included.
Abroad retail traders can achieve restricted publicity by way of offshore funds that spend money on A-shares.
International retail traders thinking about STAR Market IPOs, similar to Moore Threads and MetaX, can spend money on non-China domiciled funds that spend money on A-shares and often these funds do take part in IPOs, Shou mentioned.
China’s STAR Market is a Nasdaq-style tech board in Shanghai centered on strategic sectors similar to semiconductors, AI and biotech, with looser profitability necessities and tighter entry for international retail traders.
“Nevertheless, such participation can be oblique, very restricted, and largely non-meaningful,” he caveated, as IPO allocations could also be tiny relative to the fund’s complete property.
Whereas international retail traders are largely locked out of entry to mainland Chinese language IPOs, some giant establishments can take part in them.
A program for certified international institutional Buyers, or QFIIs, permits accepted international establishments to take a position instantly in onshore Chinese language shares, together with IPOs. However it’s designed for big asset managers, sovereign funds and banks, not particular person traders.
QFIIs embody the likes of funding banks similar to Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs in addition to central banks, amongst a whole bunch of different members.
The QFII and renminbi QFII schemes are applications that permit accepted institutional traders to commerce onshore A-shares and take part in IPOs, however they require approval from the China Securities Regulatory Fee, with foreign-exchange registration and settlement overseen by the State Administration of International Change, or SAFE.
Whereas China’s QFII and RQFII regimes don’t set express asset-size or operating-history thresholds, candidates have to be establishments with sound monetary standing, related funding expertise, sturdy governance and compliance techniques, and a clear regulatory document.
They need to additionally appoint an onshore custodian and full foreign-exchange registration with SAFE.
The CSI 300 Data Know-how Index, which measures the efficiency of information-technology firms inside China’s CSI 300, is up 32% 12 months to this point, in contrast with the benchmark CSI 300, up 17%, and Hong Kong’s Hold Seng Tech Index, which has gained 24% to this point this 12 months.
