Shenzhen pork producer Muyuan, Beijing AI firm Deepexi plan Hong Kong listings

Sixteen companies submitted listing applications for Hong Kong’s main board in the past two weeks, according to exchange data

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A staff member checks on piglets at a Muyuan Group facility in Nanyang City, in central China’s Henan Province, on March 21, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 2:15pm, 16 Apr 2025Updated: 3:22pm, 16 Apr 2025

A pork producer and an artificial intelligence (AI) company are among a flurry of Chinese companies moving towards share listings in Hong Kong, heeding Beijing’s call to use one of Asia’s largest capital markets to power up amid a raging tariff war.

Sixteen companies submitted listing applications for the Hong Kong main board in the past two weeks, according to bourse operator Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX). The rush indicates that volatility triggered by the US-China trade war has not dulled the city’s lustre as an initial public offering (IPO) venue.

Shenzhen-listed Muyuan Foods, one of the world’s largest pig breeders and pork producers, said it planned to apply to list in Hong Kong in the next two years, according to a filing with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

The pork producer would join a wave of Shenzhen-listed companies raising capital in the city. Home appliance maker Midea Group raised US$4.6 billion in September, while Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world’s largest maker of electric-vehicle batteries, filed for a listing in February. Sources said it planned to raise up to US$5 billion within the second quarter.

The funds raised from international investors through the listing would help Muyuan expand in markets abroad, the filing said. Muyuan shares gained 0.5 per cent to 40.80 yuan on Wednesday.

The company said it had not decided on the size of the offering, but analysts estimated it could raise US$1 billion.

Beijing-based Deepexi Technology, which provides AI tools for enterprises globally, applied on Tuesday to list as a specialist technology company under HKEX’s Chapter 18C listing rules, according to a filing.