Hong Kong stocks set off a 18C chapter filing frenzy

According to Securities Times, this year, the special technology listing channel of Chapter 18C of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has suddenly seen a long queue forming. According to statistics, only three companies including Yuejiang successfully landed on the Hong Kong stock market through Chapter 18C before 2025. However, since 2025, there have been four companies including Wenyuan Zhixing that have successfully listed under this rule, with a total of 20 companies sprinting for IPO through this channel, creating a "filing frenzy." The IPO frenzy brought by Chapter 18C is also expected to drive some changes in the ecosystem of the Hong Kong stock market. Zheng Lei, director of the Outbound Services Industry Committee of Deep Consultation Association, believes that Chapter 18C, Chapter 8A, and Chapter 18A have outlined the prototype of the "new economy sector" of the Hong Kong stock market. However, the market value of Chapter 18C listed companies currently accounts for a very small percentage of the entire Hong Kong stock market. If the secondary market can provide continuous liquidity and refinancing functions in the future, it will attract more "hardcore" assets such as semiconductors, quantum, commercial aerospace, etc. to choose Hong Kong as the preferred location, thereby changing the traditional market value structure dominated by "finance + real estate + consumption" in the Hong Kong stock market.