China’s AI firms take huge post listing gains
MiniMax surged as much as 30% in Hong Kong before closing up 25%. Since its IPO in January 2026, the stock is now up more than 400%.
Rival Zhipu also posted double-digit intraday gains. Both names are currently among the hottest AI bets in Asia..
The driver
Optimism around China’s generative AI startups is rising, fueled by model upgrades ahead of Lunar New Year, a period when platforms traditionally compete for maximum user traffic.
MiniMax last week released version M2.5 of its flagship model.
On the SWE benchmark, M2.5 performs “very close” to Claude Opus 4.6, with analysts pointing to “significant performance improvements.”
Why so hot?
First: China is investable again.
After years of regulatory uncertainty and weak tech performance, investors are searching for a new growth anchor. Chinese AI offers exactly that: structural growth, strategic relevance and state backing.
Second: valuation arbitrage.
U.S. AI stocks trade at extreme multiples. In Hong Kong, newly listed AI players are entering the market at far lower starting valuations.
Third: technological catch-up.
MiniMax’s M2.5 and Zhipu’s GLM models are being publicly benchmarked against U.S. frontier models. “Close enough” is sufficient to support the thesis that China is not permanently behind in the LLM race.
Fourth: geopolitical logic.
Semiconductors, AI and compute capacity are strategic sectors. Investors understand that these areas are politically prioritized in China, reducing the risk of sudden domestic policy headwinds.
👉 Full story: Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance
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