Catenaa, Monday, August 10, 2026- China is accessing its $28 trillion worth of capital markets to close the finance gap to power the AI race with the US.
CXMT ’s trading debut in Shanghai last month was extraordinary, where within a few hours, the memory chip maker, seen as Beijing’s best hope of reducing reliance on foreign suppliers and challenging the US in AI, surged more than 500% to become the most valuable stock in mainland China, eclipsing Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which held the top spot for years.
The frenzy was the culmination of one of the country’s most aggressive efforts yet to marshal the power of its $28 trillion stock and bond markets.
Regulators have fast-tracked IPOs for strategic companies and opened more avenues for them to raise money through bond sales.
When tech stocks tumbled in July, authorities intervened with unusual speed to restore confidence.
While the move was not aimed specifically at supporting CXMT, the stock launch was a factor in the decision, Bloomberg News reported.
Access to capital has long been one of America’s biggest advantages in technology. Now Beijing is trying to help Chinese tech firms raise about $217 billion through initial public offerings and bond sales over the past two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
For every $1 they secured, US peers raised more than $6, led by companies including Amazon and Alphabet.
It represents a change in how Beijing finances its strategic industries. China has rarely used capital markets as a major industrial policy tool, relying instead on subsidies, tax incentives and state investment.
The shift opens access to the $26 trillion held by citizens, the world’s largest pool of household savings, while Chinese companies also enjoy some of the cheapest funding globally.
China has already shown how a mix of state support and manufacturing prowess can build world-beating industries, as it did with electric vehicles led by BYD. But AI is a more difficult race, with Washington seeking to restrict Beijing’s access to the world’s most advanced chips.
Beijing cleared the runway for CXMT months before its debut. The company was the first to go through a “preliminary review” pilot reserved for strategically important firms, allowing regulators to resolve key issues before a formal IPO application.
It went from filing to trading in less than eight months, unusually swift for a process that could take years, and raised about $9.8 billion in one of the country’s biggest IPOs in years.
However, the offering also exposed a paradox. CXMT’s shares closed 466% higher on their first day, suggesting the share sale was priced well below what buyers were willing to pay.
China’s practice of conservatively pricing IPOs shields investors from losses but leaves the chipmaker with a smaller war chest than rivals such as South Korea’s SK Hynix, which recently raised $26.5 billion in the US.
Days before the debut, a selloff in tech shares threatened to derail momentum. Beijing responded with one of its broadest rescue efforts in years, with regulators, state funds and major investors moving quickly to stabilize sentiment.
The intervention underscored a broader strategy. Since 2025, regulators have built a coordinated policy framework to support tech companies throughout their development, combining bank lending, bond issuance, capital markets and long-term investment.
The People’s Bank of China, China Securities Regulatory Commission and Ministry of Finance are among the agencies behind the effort.
If China’s economic growth falters in the second half, policymakers are more likely to favor targeted monetary tools to increase support for some key areas, including tech innovation, rather than roll out broad-based stimulus, Bloomberg News reported.
