In 2025, a total of 116 companies went public, with fundraising surging nearly 96%! The A-share IPO landscape in 2026 will welcome a new paradigm.

This article is from Times Weekly, authored by Guan Yue and Han Xun.

2026 marks the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan, with a focus on establishing a well-functioning, comprehensive capital market. Improving the inclusiveness and adaptability of the capital market system and developing a balanced investment and financing function are included in the “14th Five-Year Plan” recommendations.

At the press conference on the economy during the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress on March 6, Wu Qing, Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, announced that two key measures will be launched soon: one is to deepen the reform of the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM), and the other is to optimize the refinancing mechanism.

As the core link of direct financing in the capital market, the A-share IPO market delivered a double increase in both volume and value in 2025, and at the start of 2026, a new trend of quality improvement and speed-up has emerged.

According to Wind data compiled by Times Weekly reporters, in 2025, a total of 116 companies were listed on the A-share market (Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing), a 16% increase from 100 in 2024; the total fundraising amount from IPOs was 131.771 billion yuan, a 95.63% increase year-on-year. The stark difference in growth rates between these two indicators directly reflects the “quality over quantity” characteristic of IPOs in 2025.

Zhang Xiaorong, Director of the Deep Technology Research Institute, told Times Weekly that in 2025, IPO market optimization focused more on technological content rather than pure profit metrics. Leading companies with core technologies in “hard tech” can raise more funds, and the trend of market selection and targeted support for the real economy is becoming more evident.

Science and Technology Innovation Becomes the Favorite in 2025 IPOs

Looking at the distribution of IPOs across different boards in 2025, the Shanghai and Shenzhen main boards, as the “ballast” of the capital market, saw 38 companies listed, raising a total of 60.872 billion yuan, accounting for 46.20% of the year’s total IPO funds, leading all sectors and playing a key role in supporting steady economic growth.

The STAR Market (Sci-Tech Innovation Board), focusing on hard tech, maintained its positioning, with 19 companies listed in 2025, raising a total of 38.061 billion yuan, with an average fundraising of 2.003 billion yuan—significantly higher than the market average of 1.136 billion yuan. Companies mainly listed in semiconductors, biomedicine, high-end equipment manufacturing, among others. Six unprofitable companies successfully listed based on their core technological advantages, setting a new annual high for unprofitable companies on the STAR Market, demonstrating the system’s inclusiveness toward hard tech firms.

The ChiNext Board, centered on serving growth-oriented innovative enterprises, saw 33 companies listed in 2025, raising 25.31 billion yuan. These companies cover emerging fields such as new energy, new materials, and digital economy.

The Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE) focused on specialized, innovative, and small-medium enterprises, becoming the main platform for supporting innovation and development of SMEs. In 2025, 26 companies listed, raising 7.527 billion yuan. The review pace accelerated significantly in November-December 2025, with 25 companies reviewed and 23 approved during that period, providing a convenient financing channel for SMEs. Notably, the BSE added 176 new companies in 2025, a substantial increase year-on-year, indicating a trend of high-quality and high-volume expansion.

From industry distribution and capital flow, funds further concentrated in the new quality productivity sector, highly aligned with national strategic directions.

According to the Shenwan First-Level Industry Classification, the electronics industry ranked first in both the number of IPO companies and total fundraising amount, with 20 companies and 36.5 billion yuan, accounting for 17.24% and 27.70% of the total IPO count and funds respectively.

Other leading industries in fundraising include automotive, utilities, power equipment, and biomedicine, with amounts of 22.925 billion yuan, 18.171 billion yuan, 11.856 billion yuan, and 9.066 billion yuan. These five industries together raised 98.518 billion yuan, accounting for 74.77% of the total annual IPO funds, becoming the main force of fundraising.

Regionally, the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Bohai Rim remain the core clusters of IPO companies. In 2025, the top five provinces by number of IPOs were Jiangsu (29), Guangdong (21), Zhejiang (17), Shanghai (8), and Beijing (8).

However, the number of IPOs does not directly correlate with fundraising amounts. The top five provinces by IPO fundraising in 2025 were Fujian (224.47 billion yuan), Jiangsu (209.00 billion yuan), Beijing (199.08 billion yuan), Guangdong (185.94 billion yuan), and Zhejiang (133.25 billion yuan).

The discrepancy is likely related to the polarization of fundraising amounts among individual companies.

The top ten IPOs in 2025 included Huadian New Energy, Moore Threads-U, Xi’an Yicai-U, China Uranium, Muxi Co., Ltd.-U, Zhongce Rubber, Tianyouwei, United Power, Qiangyi Co., Ltd., and Southern Power Grid Digital, with fundraising amounts of 18.171 billion yuan, 8.00 billion yuan, 4.636 billion yuan, 4.44 billion yuan, 4.197 billion yuan, 4.066 billion yuan, 3.74 billion yuan, 3.601 billion yuan, 2.756 billion yuan, and 2.714 billion yuan respectively. Huadian New Energy, based in Fujian, significantly boosted the province’s total fundraising.

Overall, the top ten IPOs in 2025 raised a combined total of 56.321 billion yuan, nearly half of the year’s total. Meanwhile, 85 IPOs raised less than 1 billion yuan, indicating that small-scale fundraising remains prevalent.

Most of the top ten IPOs focus on high-tech fields with high domestic demand, such as Moore Threads-U, Xi’an Yicai-U, Muxi Co., Ltd.-U, and Qiangyi Co., Ltd., all semiconductor companies, and Southern Power Grid Digital in the IT services sector. According to incomplete statistics by Times Weekly, among the 116 IPO companies, 74 are nationally recognized specialized and innovative enterprises, and 82 are provincial-level specialized and innovative enterprises, with high technological content.

In terms of market performance, 2025 saw a bright start for newly listed A-shares, but subsequent performance showed clear divergence.

Throughout 2025, all 116 new stocks listed on the A-share market did not experience a first-day decline below issue price, with an average first-day increase of 259.33%. Dapeng Industrial led with a 1211.11% first-day rise, while Hengdong Guang, Sanzhe Electric, Muxi Co., Ltd.-U, Jiangnan New Material, and Guangxin Technology all saw first-day gains exceeding five times, at 878.16%, 785.62%, 692.95%, 606.83%, and 500.00% respectively.

In terms of intra-year gains, stocks like Xingtutu, Haibo Sixing, Hengdong Guang, Dapeng Industrial, Guangxin Technology, Sanzhe Electric, and Jiangnan New Material all increased more than fivefold, with gains of 1611.96%, 1208.72%, 878.16%, 788.89%, 746.46%, 740.22%, and 654.11%.

2026: High-Quality Development of the Capital Market

During the 2025 National Two Sessions, suggestions from representatives and committee members in the capital market focused more on “stability first, balanced investment and financing.” Key themes included strengthening market operation fundamentals, addressing institutional gaps, guiding orderly capital inflows, and protecting investors’ legal rights. In IPO and industry support, recommendations emphasized the division of the multi-level market and support for sci-tech enterprises.

As the 2026 National Two Sessions are underway, Wu Qing, Chairman of the CSRC, reiterated at the press conference on March 6 that the capital market’s policy focus has shifted from “stabilizing fundamentals and improving institutions” in 2025 to “deepening reforms, strengthening governance, and enhancing quality and efficiency.” The development focus has moved from “how to expand” to “how to develop with high quality,” with reforms increasingly centered on institutional adaptation, ecological purification, and precise empowerment.

In terms of issuance, listing, and sector reform, the core in 2026 is to deepen differentiation and improve quality and efficiency.

Wu Qing announced two major measures: one is to deepen GEM reform, with plans to set more precise and inclusive listing standards, support new industries, new business models, and new consumption enterprises, and replicate successful experiences such as pre-IPO review, existing shareholder capital increases, and optimized pricing; the other is to improve the refinancing mechanism, emphasizing “supporting excellence and sci-tech,” strengthening full-process regulation, and balancing financing and investment interests.

Tian Xuan, a National People’s Congress deputy and Director of the National Finance Research Institute at Tsinghua University, suggested clarifying the positioning boundaries of the STAR Market, GEM, and BSE, smoothing pricing bottlenecks in primary and secondary markets, and shifting IPO focus from “scale growth” to “quality priority,” strictly controlling the entry of listed companies.

Zhu Jiandi, a deputy to the National People’s Congress and Chairman of Lixin Certified Public Accountants, proposed new measures for emerging industries, suggesting reference to the Nasdaq dual-track system. For high-tech companies with no revenue, such as AI algorithms and synthetic biology, standards based on patents and R&D teams should be added to improve institutional adaptation to frontier innovation fields.

On market ecology and long-term capital development, suggestions in 2026 include upgrading from “promoting market entry” to “long-term allocation.” Wang Wenchang, former director of the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau, emphasized creating a system environment where medium- and long-term funds are willing to enter, stay, and develop, promoting high-quality index-based investment and cultivating patient and long-term capital.

In serving national strategies and capital circulation, 2026 will focus more on precise empowerment of new quality productivity. Wu Qing highlighted that the capital market will support the construction of a modern industrial system by channeling resources toward key core technologies and frontier fields. Yang Changsheng, Chief Economist at Shenwan Hongyuan Securities Research Institute, suggested increasing support for the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries through mergers and acquisitions, asset securitization, and intellectual property financing to help traditional industries upgrade in technology, value, and management.