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An illustrative photo shows the Moore Threads logo on a smartphone in Suqian, Jiangsu province, China, 30 October 2025.
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China’s hottest artificial intelligence listings are generating eye-popping gains.
Shares of chipmaker MetaX Integrated Circuits soared nearly 700% during their Shanghai market debut last week, while Son Moore soared more than 400% on its first day of trading earlier this month.
As domestic investors scramble for exposure to promising Chinese tech listings, foreign investors are largely excluded from these blockbuster offerings.
Foreign retail investors, in particular, are excluded from IPOs in mainland China: “It’s not even possible. Unless they open an account with a Chinese broker,” said Chris Zhang, executive director of Chinese financial services firm China Fortune Securities Company.
Opening an onshore brokerage account with a Chinese securities company requires a linked Chinese bank account, which generally requires proof of residency in China, or a Chinese visa of sufficient validity. Foreigners must also own other stocks listed on the mainland before they can participate in an IPO lottery.
Most foreign banks do not have the necessary arrangements with Chinese brokers to support account opening, Zhang said, making the process impossible for the vast majority of foreign retail investors.
Shanghai City Government Official Guidelines states that only a select group of foreign individuals can directly open brokerage accounts for A-shares – stocks listed in mainland China. For example, foreigners with permanent resident status, workers in China or foreigners working abroad benefiting from share incentive plans in A-share listed companies.
For many global investors, Stock Connect, a program that allows Hong Kong and mainland China stock exchanges to access each other’s stocks, is the most convenient way to gain exposure to Chinese stocks.
It allows foreign investors to buy A shares through their Hong Kong brokers without the need for a domestic account or special licenses – but the system offers little help when it comes to IPOs, or even freshly listed shares. Access also depends on Hong Kong Broker Eligibility Requirements, such as minimum account balances and risk disclosure.
“Stock Connect does not work because newly listed stocks are not yet included in Stock Connect. It usually takes a few weeks or even months for the stocks to be eligible,” said Theodore Shou, chief investment officer at Skybound Capital.
Inclusion of businesses in the Stock Connect program It depends on whether a stock meets eligibility rules, such as sufficient trading activity and market value, which often requires a trading period and historical data to qualify.
Institutional exhibition
Northbound trading, which refers to foreign and Hong Kong investors buying mainland Chinese stocks through Stock Connect and other programs, will only be available “usually several months after any listing,” Shou said. Even then, this does not guarantee that Moore Threads and MetaX will be included.
Foreign retail investors can benefit from limited exposure through offshore funds that invest in A-shares.
Foreign retail investors interested in IPOs on the STAR Market, such as Moore Threads and MetaX, can invest in funds domiciled outside China that invest in A-shares and, typically, these funds participate in IPOs, Shou said.
China Market STAR is a Shanghai-based Nasdaq-style technology consultancy focused on strategic sectors such as semiconductors, AI and biotechnology, with looser profitability requirements and more restricted access for foreign retail investors.
“However, such participation will be indirect, very limited and mostly insignificant,” he warned, as IPO allocations could be minimal relative to the fund’s total assets.
While foreign retail investors are largely excluded from accessing IPOs in mainland China, some large institutions can participate.
A Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor, or QFII, program allows approved global institutions to invest directly in local Chinese stocks, including IPOs. But it is designed for large asset managers, sovereign wealth funds and banks, not individual investors.
QFIIs include investment banks such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as well as central banks, among hundreds of other participants.
The QFII and renminbi QFII programs are programs that allow approved institutional investors to trade A shares onshore and participate in IPOs, but they require approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, with foreign exchange registration and settlement overseen by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE.
Although China’s QFII and RQFII regimes do not set explicit thresholds for asset size or operating history, applicants must be institutions with a good financial situationrelevant investment experience, robust governance and compliance systems and an impeccable regulatory record.
They must also appoint a guard on the ground and complete currency registration with SAFE.
The CSI 300 Information Technology Index, which measures the performance of information technology companies within China’s CSI 300 Index, is up 32% year to date, compared with the benchmark CSI 300, up 17%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Technology Index, which has gained 24% so far this year.
