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Finance & Markets · Asia Pacific

Citi banker says Chinese AI IPO plans can withstand valuation concerns

Citi’s Simon Yuen said Chinese AI supply-chain companies planning Hong Kong listings are expected to maintain their plans despite valuation concerns. He said demand for the planned listings is split roughly evenly between domestic Chinese and international investors.

AI-assisted synthesis · Based on 3 independent reports from 5 outlets · Full text read from 1 of 3 reportsHow it's made

View timeline · 4 entries
5 outlets2 regionsLatest reporting 3 min read
Coverage: Center OnlyL 0 · C 4 · R 0 · 1 unrated
Updat3 graphic: China
Updat3 graphic · Map data: Natural Earth Natural Earth (public domain)

What happened

Key facts

  • Citi said Chinese AI supply-chain IPOs are expected to hold firm despite valuation concerns (per Yahoo, The Economic Times, Reuters).
  • Citi’s view was reported alongside concerns about valuations of Chinese AI supply-chain IPOs (per Yahoo, The Economic Times, Reuters).
  • Yuen said valuation pullbacks among data-centre companies had largely originated in the U.S. market (per The Economic Times).
  • Yuen said Hong Kong equity capital markets were expected next year to shift focus from pure hardware toward Chinese AI-model and application developers (per The Economic Times).

The brief

Citi expects Chinese AI supply-chain companies to continue pursuing Hong Kong listings despite valuation concerns, according to Simon Yuen, the bank’s head of China investment banking. The Economic Times reported Yuen’s assessment, which concerned future listings rather than a tally of completed offerings.

Headlines from Yahoo, Reuters, Crypto Briefing and TradingView also described Citi’s view as resilient or firm demand for Chinese AI IPOs amid valuation concerns. Yuen said companies planning to list in Hong Kong have support from domestic Chinese and international investors in roughly equal measure. He also heads Citi’s financial institutions group in APAC.

The account placed his remarks on the sidelines of IMF meetings in Bangkok. Yuen pointed to valuation pullbacks among data-centre companies, which he said had largely originated in the U.S. market. He cautioned that a change in the U.S. AI cycle could affect markets elsewhere, including Hong Kong.

His statement was a warning about a possible market effect, not a report that the cycle had already turned or that Hong Kong listings had been halted. The remarks set out both the support Yuen sees for Hong Kong IPO plans and a risk he believes could reach the market.

His account identifies the roughly balanced domestic and international investor demand as a cushion, while also linking Hong Kong’s exposure to developments in the U.S. AI cycle. It gives no separate investor totals or valuation figures.

Yuen said the focus of Hong Kong’s equity capital markets was expected to shift next year away from pure hardware and toward Chinese AI-model and application developers. He said those businesses would need to demonstrate a viable business model, strong growth and profitability.

The comments describe the conditions he believes those companies must meet; they do not establish that any particular company has met them. The outlook therefore rests on two distinct points in Yuen’s account: continued interest in Hong Kong listings from domestic and overseas investors, and the possibility that a U.S. AI-cycle change could affect markets including Hong Kong.

His forecast also points to a change in the kinds of Chinese AI businesses expected to seek equity financing, from hardware toward models and applications.

Why it matters

  • Chinese AI supply-chain companies pursuing Hong Kong IPOs rely, in Yuen’s account, on demand split roughly evenly between domestic Chinese and international investors.
  • Data-centre companies have experienced valuation pullbacks that Yuen said largely originated in the U.S. market; he said a turn in the U.S. AI cycle could affect Hong Kong as well.
  • Yuen expects Hong Kong equity markets to shift next year from pure hardware toward Chinese AI-model and application developers, which he said need proven business models, strong growth and profitability.

What to watch next

  • Whether Chinese AI supply-chain companies continue pursuing Hong Kong listings, as Yuen forecast.
  • Whether the U.S. AI cycle turns and affects Hong Kong, the possibility Yuen identified.
  • Whether Hong Kong equity-market focus shifts next year from pure hardware toward Chinese AI models and application developers.
  • Whether AI-model and application developers demonstrate the business models, growth and profitability Yuen said they need.

How it's being covered

Coverage analysisShow details
5 source articles · 5 unique outlets · 3 distinct reports
Coverage mix: Center Only· 4 Center
Where the outlets are based: US/Canada 40% · Global 40% · Other 20%
Coverage mix
Center Only
Left
Center
Right
0 outlets
4 outlets
0 outlets
The marker shows coverage balance: each unique outlet counts once. 1 unrated outlet is not included.
Geography
Where the outlets covering this story are based.
5 unique outletsDominant coverage: US/Canada
Coverage imbalance
  • Coverage is currently concentrated among Center-rated outlets (4 of 4 rated sources); comparatively few Left or Right-rated outlets have published on the event.
How we measure coverage

One source is from a wire service (AP, Reuters, AFP or Bloomberg), whose reporting other outlets often republish.

How outlets' accounts compare

Updat3 does not yet have enough full reports to compare how outlets framed this story.

Timeline

Developments from this story's sources, dated background we compiled and fact-checked, and our earlier coverage. Each row says which.
  1. The exchange’s earlier Chapter 18A regime, introduced in April 2018, had permitted qualifying pre-revenue biotechnology companies to list.
    Background · from our historical context
  2. The global investment cycle had been reshaped by the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, which brought generative AI into broad public and commercial use and drove demand for computing infrastructure.
    Background · from our historical context
  3. In 2025, DeepSeek’s releases also helped make the distinction between AI hardware suppliers and model developers more prominent in debates about the sector’s investment prospects.
    Background · from our historical context
  4. On January 8, 2025, Beijing-based Zhipu AI began trading in Hong Kong, becoming an early public-market test of investor appetite for a Chinese large-language-model developer.
    Background · from our historical context

How we got here

On January 8, 2025, Beijing-based Zhipu AI began trading in Hong Kong, becoming an early public-market test of investor appetite for a Chinese large-language-model developer.

The listing followed the release of DeepSeek’s R1 reasoning model in January 2025, which drew international attention to Chinese AI capabilities and intensified discussion of how companies developing models and the infrastructure supporting them might be valued.

Original sources

2 of 5 articles · US/Canada · Show all

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