Hong Kong spent several years being written off as a listing venue. The numbers for the first half of 2026 argue otherwise. The exchange hosted 85 new listings raising roughly HK$210 billion, up about 92 per cent year on year and the strongest first half in five years. PwC projects HK$380 billion for the full year, and the market ranked second globally at the halfway mark.

The A+H engine

The recovery has a specific driver. Twenty-four A+H listings, meaning mainland companies already listed on a Chinese exchange adding a Hong Kong line, took place in the first half, alongside thirteen specialist technology IPOs. Between them these two categories accounted for more than 70 per cent of funds raised, and eight of the ten largest Hong Kong IPOs were A+H deals.

Both figures had already surpassed their full-year 2025 totals by June.

The sectors follow the capital: artificial intelligence, semiconductors, new materials and robotics. These are the industries China’s Five-Year Plan prioritises, and they are also the ones international investors most want exposure to and can least easily access through onshore markets.

Why the route works

For mainland issuers, an A+H structure offers access to international capital and a freely convertible currency without giving up the domestic listing. For international investors, it offers exposure to Chinese technology through a familiar legal and settlement infrastructure, with disclosure standards and index inclusion mechanics they already understand.

The specialist technology listing regime, which allows pre-revenue and pre-profit companies in designated sectors to list subject to enhanced disclosure, has done more work than its modest profile suggests. Thirteen such deals in six months indicates a pipeline rather than a series of exceptions.

The professional consequences

Where the advisory work sits has shifted. Equity capital markets teams, listing counsel and reporting accountants oriented toward Hong Kong are busier than at any point since 2021, and the A+H structure carries its own dual-regulator sequencing, disclosure reconciliation and connected transaction analysis.

Index and fund exposure is changing quietly. As large mainland technology names add Hong Kong lines, passive and benchmarked portfolios pick up exposure without any active decision. Investment mandates written when Hong Kong listings were thin may need review.

Concentration deserves attention. A market where two categories generate more than 70 per cent of issuance is a market with a single point of failure. The reported pipeline is deep, but pipelines are sentiment-dependent.

Summary

Hong Kong raised about HK$210 billion across 85 listings in the first half of 2026, up 92 per cent year on year, driven by 24 A+H listings and 13 specialist technology IPOs that together produced more than 70 per cent of proceeds. AI, semiconductor, new materials and robotics names dominate. The A+H route has become the default path for large mainland issuers seeking international capital, which changes where advisory work sits, how passive portfolios acquire China exposure, and how concentrated the market’s fortunes have become.