Rewrites top paragraphs adding context about Chinese regulatory scrutiny on Hong Kong listing hopefuls

By Roshan Thomas and Yantoultra Ngui

March 20 (Reuters) - Five Chinese companies launched Hong Kong share sales on Friday that sought to raise up to HK$5.3 billion ($677.9 million) in total, even as Beijing has stepped up scrutiny of new listings by mainland firms in the city.

China is restricting some of its companies incorporated overseas, or so-called red-chip firms, from seeking initial public offerings in Hong Kong, asking them to change their domicile back to China before going public, according to China's securities regulator.

Bankers have said the move could have a significant impact on Hong Kong's rich IPO pipeline, at least in the short-term.

All five companies that launched their IPOs on Friday are incorporated in China, according to their prospectuses, and none is using the red-chip structure.

The largest deal is from Epiworld International, a Xiamen-based semiconductor materials player focused on silicon carbide epitaxial wafers for power devices in electric vehicles and renewable energy.

The company aims to raise HK$1.64 billion through the offering of 21.5 million H shares priced at HK$76.26 each, according to its filing.

Guangdong Huayan Robotics, a maker of collaborative robots used in industrial automation and healthcare, aims to raise HK$1.37 billion by offering 80.8 million H shares at HK$17 each, according to an exchange filing.

The remaining offerings span artificial intelligence, biotechnology and healthcare.

They include AI computer-vision firm Shandong Extreme Vision Technology, Hangzhou Diagens Biotechnology and healthcare-services provider Beijing Tong Ren Tang Healthcare Investment.

Shares in all five companies are scheduled to begin trading on March 30, according to their filings.

The flurry of launches, despite a darkening global economic picture due to the war in the Middle East, builds on a buoyant start to 2026 for Hong Kong's listings market, which has recorded its strongest start to a year since 2021.

Hong Kong's IPO market saw issuers raising about $11.64 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 385% from about $2.4 billion a year earlier, according to LSEG data as of March 18.

Second listings accounted for most of that increase, raising about $7.98 billion across 13 deals, while IPOs raised about $3.66 billion from 14 transactions, the data showed.

Fueled by mainland Chinese share sales, Hong Kong ranked as the world's top listing venue in 2025, with total equity capital market fundraising jumping 164% to $103 billion, according to exchange data.

Last week, Hong Kong's stock exchange proposed lowering market value thresholds for companies seeking dual-class share structures in a bid to make listing more attractive in the city.

($1 = 7.8329 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

((Roshan.Thomas@thomsonreuters.com;))