Chinese companies expected to set a record for US listings

A record number of Chinese companies are seeking a US listing this year as onerous domestic listing rules and the prospect of better valuations convince them to brave volatile Sino-US relations and US calls for strict oversight of Chinese firms.

- SAMUEL SHEN SELENA LI

In the first half of 2025, 36 mostly small and mid-sized Chinese companies went public in the US, following a record-breaking year of 64 in 2024, said law firm K&L Gates.

Many of those firms went public through special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) — listed companies set up to buy mainly startups, making the startups public without them having to go through the lengthy initial public offering process.

Waiting to list on the Nasdaq are more than 40 Chinese companies, including a mobile advertising service provider and a traditional Chinese medicine maker, Chinese disclosure showed.

That number, which excludes confidentially filed listing applications, will take the annual tally of Chinese firms going public in the US to a new high if all materialise this year.

“I think it's a healthy year for Chinese IPOs. It will probably be a record year or near that,’ said David Bartz, partner at K&L Gates, who has built a “robust” pipeline of Chinese clients seeking first-time share sales in the US.

Chinese firms have had a harder time going public at home since the government tightened listing rules in 2023, raising the appeal of listing via SPACs in the US, as well as that country's deeper pool of capital.

Pursuing a US listing amounts to a bet that calls from US lawmakers aimed at diminishing Chinese access to the world’s largest capital market can only go so far, bankers and lawyers said.