From the South China Morning Post, January 2:
Last year, 20 Chinese semiconductor IPOs raised over 45 billion yuan (US$6.4 billion), with six of them listing in December
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 9.4 per cent to HK$143.80 on Friday, the highest close since July 2023.
“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.
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....
....MUCH MORE
As noted exiting November 2025's "China’s Baidu says weekly robotaxi rides hit 250,000 — same as Alphabet’s Waymo this spring":
...China has a communist government, they pick winners and losers in business, that's what communists do....
....IMBSREHTCL was chosen to succeed.....
In the case of artificial intelligence it was apparent by 2017 that Baidu, known in the West as a search engine, was the anointed one for machine learning and such. Some of our headlines:
May 2015: Baidu Artificial Intelligence Beats Google, Microsoft In Image Recognition
February 2017:"How Chinese Internet Giant Baidu Uses AI And Machine Learning"
February 2017: "China is funding Baidu to take on the US in deep-learning research"
April 2017: "The Mobile Internet Is Over. Baidu Goes All In on AI"
September 2017: "China's Baidu launches $1.5 billion autonomous driving fund"
December 2017: "Interview With CEO Robin Li on Baidu's (and China's) Goal Of Ruling Artificial Intelligence"
So yes, you could say Baidu is the Inner Mongolia Baotou Steel Rare Earth Hi-Tech Co. of Chinese AI. Though it's quicker just to say Baidu....
