AI firm MiniMax prepares for mainland China listing after shares surge in Hong Kong

MiniMax Group has formally launched plans to list on the mainland Chinese stock market, a move that gives onshore investors a rare direct stake in an AI model developer rather than just the chipmakers that have dominated the sector. The company, already publicly traded in Hong Kong, is seeking a dual listing that would lock in liquidity across both exchanges. Shares in Hong Kong edged up 0.4 per cent on Friday to HK$840, pushing the market capitalisation to HK$264 billion, or roughly US$33.7 billion. The listing venue is widely expected to be the Star Market, the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s technology board that has become a home for China’s leading AI chip companies. For mainland investors, this is a significant shift. Until now, the purest plays on artificial intelligence in China’s onshore markets have been semiconductor firms like Cambricon and Hygon. MiniMax offers exposure to the model layer itself—the large language models and generative AI applications that sit atop the hardware. MiniMax is not the first AI model company to pursue a mainland IPO. Its peer, Knowledge Atlas Technology, known as Zhipu before rebranding to Z.ai in 2025, is already ahead in the domestic listing queue. Both companies are set to be added to the Hang Seng Tech Index in June. Morgan Stanley has estimated that inclusion could trigger capital inflows of up to US$1.75 billion into the two stocks, a figure that underscores the hunger among global and regional funds for AI exposure beyond the chip sector. Founded in 2021, MiniMax built its reputation on the M-series of large language models and popular consumer products, including the video-generation tool Hailuo AI. Revenue surged nearly 160 per cent year on year to US$79 million in 2025. Yet the company’s annual losses widened to US$1.87 billion, driven largely by fair-value changes on financial liabilities rather than operational cash burn. That distinction matters: the loss figure inflates the cost of equity and debt instruments that fluctuate with valuation, masking a narrower operating deficit. The dual-listing strategy is not merely about raising capital. It gives MiniMax a foothold in two distinct investor pools—international funds that favour Hong Kong’s regulatory framework and mainland institutions that prize domestic listings for currency stability and policy alignment. The Star Market, in particular, has become a venue where the state can signal strategic support for frontier technologies. A listing there carries political as well as financial weight. What a casual observer might miss is the timing. MiniMax is moving toward its mainland IPO just as global investors are pouring money into Chinese tech stocks, betting on a recovery in venture funding and a thaw in cross-border sentiment. But the company’s widening losses, even if partly technical, will invite scrutiny from onshore regulators who have grown cautious about unprofitable tech listings. The Star Market has tightened its profitability requirements in recent years, though exceptions exist for companies deemed strategically important. The path forward hinges on whether MiniMax can convince Shanghai regulators that its revenue trajectory and market position justify an exception. With Z.ai already in the pipeline and index inclusion looming, the window for dual listings in China’s AI sector is opening fast. MiniMax is racing to get through it before the market’s appetite shifts—or the rules change again.

MiniMax Group, the Chinese artificial intelligence model company, has officially kicked off plans to sell shares in mainland China.

MiniMax’s mainland IPO gives onshore investors direct exposure to AI model developers, not just chip stocks, and locks in dual-listing liquidity for the sector.

The development adds to a wider Hong Kong ai & machine learning story in which companies are being judged on execution, capital access, regulatory fit and the credibility of their regional expansion plans.

For business readers, the important question is whether this becomes an isolated announcement or part of a more durable operating pattern across customers, financing channels, partners and public-market expectations.