China AI chipmaker Biren surges 82% on Hong Kong debut, kicking off 2026 listings

SINGORE/HONG KONG – Shares in Chinese artificial intelligence chip designer Shanghai Biren Technology rose 82.1% at its Hong Kong debut on Friday, kicking off the financial hub’s 2026 initial public offering.

Biren shares opened at HK$35.7, above the offer price of HK$19.60. They rose as high as HK$40 after the opening.

The strong debut follows a blockbuster 2025 for Hong Kong’s stock market and points to a possible wave of AI and semiconductor offerings this year as China steps up efforts to build domestic chip alternatives in response to a U.S. clampdown on technology exports.

Biren raised HK$5.58 billion by selling 284.8 million H shares at HK$19.60 each, the highest of the marketed range.

Stock exchange filings showed institutional demand was almost 26 times the shares on offer, while the retail tranche was approximately 2,348 times oversubscribed.

Based on the offer price, Biren’s market capitalization stands at HK$46.9 billion, based on 2.396 billion shares.

Founded in 2019, Biren develops general-purpose graphics processing units and intelligent computing systems for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

Its co-founders include SenseTime’s former president Zhang Wen and Jiao Guofang, who previously worked at Qualcomm and Huawei.

The company first attracted attention with the BR100 chip, which was launched in 2022 as a domestic rival to the advanced processors of the US artificial intelligence leader Nvidia.

The IPO prospectus showed that Biren will spend most of the IPO proceeds on research, development and commercialization.

The prospectus flagged risk from US export controls after the group was added to the Washington Entity List in October 2023, which restricts its access to certain technologies.

It also touched on competition and highlighted opportunities arising from China’s push for technology self-sufficiency and policy support.

Core investors in the prospectus include 3W Fund, Qiming Venture Partners and Ping An Life Insurance.

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