Baidu’s artificial intelligence chip subsidiary Kunlunxin (Beijing) Technology has confidentially applied for an initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong, as the search and AI giant becomes the latest to join an investment frenzy amid China’s drive for tech self-reliance.
The Kunlunxin prospectus was submitted on Thursday but details such as the size and structure of the IPO had not yet been finalised, Baidu said in a statement on Friday.
Baidu’s Hong Kong-listed shares rose 7.5 per cent to HK$141.30 as of the noon trading break.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
“The US tech blockade has made it even more urgent for China to move quickly up the value chain, build indigenous production capability and secure the first-mover advantage in AI,” said Gary Ng Cheuk-yan, senior economist at Natixis Corporate and Investment Bank.
Ng said he saw stronger investor appetite for China’s national tech champions amid the country’s drive for self-reliance, which was helping chip firms gain a higher valuation.
Kunlunxin’s XPU-R chip. Photo: Handout alt=Kunlunxin’s XPU-R chip. Photo: Handout>
Last year, 20 Chinese semiconductor IPOs raised over 45 billion yuan (US$6.4 billion), with six of them listing in December, according to market data provider CVSource. The entire chip industry raised over 185 billion yuan across 1,419 cases, topping all sectors.
More players are joining the wave in 2026. Graphics processing unit (GPU) developer Biren Technology began trading in Hong Kong on Friday after raising HK$4.85 billion (US$623 million), and rival GPU firm Enflame also finished its IPO tutoring, moving towards a listing on the Nasdaq-style Shanghai Star Market.
Biren and Enflame, together with the Shanghai-listed Moore Threads Technology and MetaX Integrated Circuits, are known as the “Four Little Dragons” of China’s GPU sector.
Baidu announced on December 7 that Kunlunxin was in the process of a proposed spin-off and listing in Hong Kong.
Kunlunxin’s valuation ranged from US$16 billion to US$23 billion after taking into account industry developments, Jefferies analysts Thomas Chong and Zoey Zong wrote in a note.
The company started out as an internal Baidu project focused on intelligent chips and was separated from the parent in April 2021, with a valuation of 13 billion yuan, according to corporate data platform Tianyancha.
