China’s ¥31.3 Billion IPO Market in 2026: Who’s Winning the Underwriting Game

China’s A-share IPO market is having a serious moment right now.

We’re only four months into 2026, and the numbers are telling a pretty compelling story.

A total of 36 companies have completed their IPOs since the year started—that’s roughly a 16% year-on-year bump.

More importantly, the total capital raised hit ¥31.332 billion RMB ($4.33 billion USD).

That’s a 66.9% surge compared to the same period last year.

Translation: this isn’t just a recovery. It’s a sprint.

The investment banking firms who are dominating this space are strategic powerhouses, and the sectors attracting the big money are telling us something crucial about where China’s economy is heading.

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The Big Three Are Running the Show: CICC, GTJA-Haitong, and CITIC Lead Underwriting Rankings

In China’s IPO underwriting landscape, concentration is the name of the game.

Three firms are currently leading the pack, and they’re pulling in the lion’s share of deals and capital.

The Underwriting Volume Breakdown

CICC (Zhongjin Gongsi 中金公司) sits in the number one spot with:

• ¥6.173 billion RMB ($852.8 million USD) in underwriting volume
• 5 IPO deals closed

GTJA-Haitong (Guotai Haitong 国泰海通) is right on their heels with:

• ¥4.529 billion RMB ($625.7 million USD)
• 4 deals completed

CITIC Securities (Zhongxin Zhengquan 中信证券) rounds out the top three with:

• ¥3.776 billion RMB ($521.7 million USD)
• 4 deals closed

Together, these three firms control over 40% of total IPO sponsorship income in the underwriting market so far this year.

The gap between top-tier and mid-tier firms is real.

Who’s Chasing Them?

The next tier of brokerages isn’t far behind, but they’re still playing catch-up.

SWHY (Shenwan Hongyuan 申万宏源) and SDIC Securities (Guotou Zhengquan 国投证券) both surpassed ¥3.3 billion RMB ($455.9 million USD) in underwriting volume.

Following close behind are:

• Guolian-Minsheng (Guolian Minsheng 国联民生)
• Soochow Securities (Dongwu Zhengquan 东吴证券)
• CSC Financial (Zhongxin Jiantou 中信建投)

All three of these firms have crossed the ¥2 billion RMB ($276.3 million USD) threshold in IPO underwriting value.

When it comes to deal count, the leaders are slightly different:

• CICC: 5 listings
• GTJA-Haitong, CITIC Securities, Soochow Securities, and Sinolink Securities (Guojin Zhengquan 国金证券): 4 deals each
• SDIC Securities: 3 deals
• SWHY, Guolian-Minsheng, CSC Financial, and Changjiang Securities (Changjiang Zhengquan 长江证券): 2 deals each

This split between capital raised and number of deals reveals something important: the mega-firms are snagging the high-value projects, while others are building volume through smaller transactions.

Fee Income: Where the Real Money Is

Here’s where it gets interesting for the investment banking teams themselves.

CITIC Securities actually edges out the competition when it comes to underwriting and sponsorship fee income:

• CITIC: ¥267 million RMB ($36.9 million USD)
• CICC: ¥256 million RMB ($35.4 million USD)
• GTJA-Haitong: ¥255 million RMB ($35.2 million USD)

This trio is collectively capturing over 40% of total IPO sponsorship income across the entire brokerage industry.

That’s serious fee concentration.

What Investment Bankers Are Actually Saying Right Now

The sentiment inside these firms has shifted dramatically from the last couple of years.

Industry insiders describe the current environment as increasingly favorable for investment banking teams.

A representative from Guolian-Minsheng highlighted that IPO volumes are growing across multiple channels:

• ChiNext reform initiatives
• Expansion of the fifth set of listing standards for the STAR Market
• High-quality expansion of the Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE)

But here’s the key insight: the market is shifting from “channel-based investment banking” to “industry-focused investment banking.”

That requires deeper expertise, stronger sector knowledge, and better access to high-quality deal flow.

One senior investment banker from a top-tier firm put it bluntly:

“Our confidence and expectations have improved significantly. While audit procedures remain strict, the current number of projects passing review makes us much more optimistic than in the past two years.”

Translation: after two years of uncertainty and regulatory tightening, investment bankers finally feel like they can breathe again.

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The Real Story: “Hard Tech” and “New Quality Productive Forces” Dominate 2026 IPOs

Here’s what’s really happening in China’s capital markets right now: money is flowing to “New Quality Productive Forces.”

This isn’t random.

It’s policy-driven and it’s working.

The largest IPO projects this year are almost entirely concentrated in electronics, advanced manufacturing, and new energy materials.

These are the sectors China’s government explicitly wants to develop as economic engines for the next decade.

The Top Five IPOs by Capital Raised

The five biggest IPO fundraisers collectively pulled in over ¥10 billion RMB ($1.38 billion USD).

All were sponsored by leading brokerages—and for good reason.

These are complex deals that require serious institutional firepower.

1. Zhenshi Group (Zhenshi Gufen 振石股份)

• Capital raised: ¥2.919 billion RMB ($403.3 million USD)
• Sponsor: CICC
• What they do: Global leader in wind power fiberglass fabrics with over 35% market share
• What the money’s for: Production bases and R&D centers in China and Spain

2. Seeya Technology (Shiya Keji 视涯科技)

• Capital raised: ¥2.268 billion RMB ($313.3 million USD)
• Sponsor: GTJA-Haitong
• What they do: AI glasses hardware specialist, specifically Silicon-based OLED micro-displays
• Market focus: High-end consumer and professional medical applications

3. Hongming Electronics (Hongming Dianzi 宏明电子)

• Capital raised: ¥2.117 billion RMB ($292.5 million USD)
• Sponsor: SWHY
• Sector: Electronics manufacturing

4. Redboard (Hongban Keji 红板科技)

• Capital raised: ¥1.770 billion RMB ($244.5 million USD)
• Sponsor: Guolian-Minsheng

5. Shenglong Gufen (盛龙股份)

• Capital raised: ¥1.681 billion RMB ($232.2 million USD)
• Sponsor: SDIC Securities

The Electronics Dominance Story

Notice something?

Three out of the top five IPOs are in electronics.

That’s not coincidence—it’s strategic capital allocation happening in real-time.

Companies like Zhenshi Group and Seeya Technology aren’t just raising money.

They’re raising capital to expand hard manufacturing capabilities and cutting-edge R&D.

Zhenshi is building production bases in Spain and China for advanced fiberglass fabrics used in renewable energy.

Seeya is developing silicon-based OLED micro-displays for AI glasses—a technology frontier that China is aggressively pursuing.

This tells you where institutional investors see the future of Chinese manufacturing heading.

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The Beijing Stock Exchange Emerges as a Battleground for Mid-Tier Brokerages

While the big three firms are dominating mega-cap deals, something equally important is happening at the Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE).

The BSE has become the critical territory where smaller and medium-sized brokerages are carving out their own niches.

BSE by the Numbers

Of the 36 total IPOs completed so far this year, 18 of them listed on the BSE.

That’s exactly half.

These 18 companies raised a combined ¥5.507 billion RMB ($760.8 million USD).

The average deal size? ¥306 million RMB ($42.3 million USD) per IPO.

For context, that’s substantially smaller than Main Board listings, but the volume is real.

Which Brokerages Are Winning the BSE Game?

Sinolink Securities leads the BSE segment with 4 projects.

Soochow Securities follows with 3 listings.

Even the mega-firms like CITIC and GTJA-Haitong have a presence on the BSE, but they’re not the dominant players there.

Why?

Because smaller firms have flexibility and deep regional roots that allow them to work effectively with smaller growth companies.

The “Small Yet Specialized” Model

BSE IPOs follow a distinct pattern: “small yet specialized” (xiaoji jingjing 小及精精).

Typical fundraising amounts range between ¥200 million RMB ($27.6 million USD) and ¥700 million RMB ($96.7 million USD).

The largest BSE listing was Medela (Meidele 美德乐) at ¥670 million RMB ($92.6 million USD).

The smallest was Haisen Medical (Haisheng Yiliao 海圣医疗) at just ¥143 million RMB ($19.8 million USD).

Service fees are also dramatically lower than Main Board deals:

• BSE service fees: ¥20 million RMB ($2.8 million USD) to ¥45 million RMB ($6.2 million USD)
• Main Board fees: significantly higher

For mid-tier brokerages, the BSE represents a high-volume, sustainable business model.

Lower individual fees, but consistent deal flow and manageable deal complexity.

That’s a different strategy than going after megadeals—but it’s a legitimate one.

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What This All Means: The IPO Market Is Being Reshaped

China’s 2026 IPO market tells a clear story: capital is being strategically deployed to support hard tech, advanced manufacturing, and “Specialized, Refined, and Innovative” (Zhuanjingtexin 专精特新) enterprises.

The mega-firms are consolidating their power by winning the biggest deals in the most strategic sectors.

Mid-tier brokerages are building sustainable businesses by focusing on smaller, specialized growth companies on the Beijing Stock Exchange.

Investment bankers across the industry are noticeably more optimistic than they’ve been in years.

And the sectors attracting the most capital—electronics, new energy materials, and advanced manufacturing—reflect explicit policy priorities aimed at building China’s next-generation competitive advantages.

If you’re tracking where Chinese capital is actually flowing, the IPO market is your clearest signal.

Right now, that signal is pointing firmly toward hard tech and new quality productive forces in the ¥31.3 billion IPO market.

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References

• 31.3 Billion Cake! IPO Underwriting Rankings Released: CICC, GTJA-Haitong, and CITIC Lead as Focus Shifts to ‘New’ Track – Securities Times (Quanshang Zhongguo)
• Company Profile and News – CICC
• Market Data and IPO Statistics – Shanghai Stock Exchange
• Listing Rules and News – Beijing Stock Exchange