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China Regulator Pushes for More AI Firm Listings, Plans STAR Market Reforms

June 17, 2026 at 00:14 EDT

Policy & Regulation
Funding & M&A

Wu Qing, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), said on June 17, 2026, at the Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai that the regulator would more actively welcome onshore listings by artificial intelligence (AI) developers and by firms currently traded in Hong Kong. The CSRC also signaled it would soon roll out two new reform packages for the STAR Market, the Shanghai Stock Exchange's technology-focused board, in a bid to strengthen onshore capital markets, as Bloomberg reported.

June 17, 2026 · Lujiazui Forum, Shanghai · CSRC

China Opens Its STAR Market to AI Listings

CSRC chairman Wu Qing unveiled two reform packages for the Science and Technology Innovation Board, resuming listings of pre-revenue firms and extending its "fifth set" of standards to AI — steering homegrown tech capital back onshore.

400%+

Post-debut gain for some Hong Kong-listed AI firms

~80%

Of listed AI firms covered by fewer than three analysts

New frontier fields added: AI, commercial aviation, low-altitude economy

The "Flying Blind" Gap

Booming AI listings vastly outpace the research that should guide investors. Each block ≈ 20% of firms.

~80%

Thin coverage
(<3 analysts)

~20%

Better
research depth

Redirecting the Capital Flow

Curbed

US listings & red-chip structures

→

2025–26 surge

Hong Kong "AI Tigers"
(MiniMax, Zhipu AI)

→

Now welcomed

Onshore STAR Market

Bullish

Direct exposure to China's AI sector draws investors; some debuts have soared over 400%, with fifth-set rules easing entry for pre-revenue firms.

Cautious

Thin analyst coverage leaves investors "flying blind," while tighter rules and pressure to unwind red-chip structures add corporate burdens.

Still a policy statement. Eligible-firm counts, funding scale and the implementation timetable remain undisclosed — concrete rules will shape whether AI firms shift from a Hong Kong tilt to using both onshore and Hong Kong markets.

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