China International Capital Corporation (CICC) has emerged as a leading financier in China's effort to compete with the US in artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Following a tough period due to government regulation and market downturns, CICC has successfully sponsored several high-profile tech IPOs, raising $11.5 billion in 2026 to date, surpassing previous years' performances. The bank's strategic integration of its investment banking, private equity, and research divisions has bolstered its market position. Analysts predict continued growth in tech listings, aided by a favorable regulatory environment. However, increased competition within China's financial sector has compressed margins, and current share prices remain below previous peaks despite a growth in profits.

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The bank behind China’s AI listings bonanza

CICC has become a dominant financier in Beijing’s drive to compete with US in tech race

William Sandlund in Hong Kong and Eleanor Olcott in Beijing

PublishedAugust 9 2026

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China’s top investment bank has emerged from a years-long government crackdown and muscled aside rivals to become the dominant financier of Beijing’s effort to compete with the US in AI.

China International Capital Corporation has sponsored the multibillion-dollar listings of several of the country’s tech champions, including chipmaker CXMT and data centre parts supplier Zhongji Innolight.

The state-owned bank is topping league tables for initial public offerings in mainland China and Hong Kong. It has netted $11.5bn in deal volume this year, more than double the same period in 2025, and is on track for a record annual haul.

“We have been investing in and preparing for this AI wave for more than a decade,” said Lou Xinyu, deputy head of CICC’s technology, media and telecom investment banking department.

CICC had long been the go-to bank for big deals, but it was caught up in a government campaign against the financial sector that intensified when the Chinese property bubble burst in 2021.

Column chart of Mainland China and Hong Kong equity IPO volume ($bn) showing CICC is on track for a record year for its IPO business

Senior executives were ensnared in investigations, while many bankers experienced severe pay cuts as part of President Xi Jinping’s “common prosperity” campaign aimed at reducing wealth inequality.

A prolonged market downturn, precipitated by the property crash, sent CICC’s investment banking revenues to as low as Rmb2.8bn ($415mn) in 2024, from a peak of Rmb6.8bn in 2021.

Sentiment began to turn when the government unveiled a stimulus package in late 2024 to boost markets. The following year, a wave of Chinese companies began listing as regulators relaxed requirements that had been tightened previously to preserve liquidity in existing stocks.

While the government was putting a damper on listings, CICC was laying the groundwork for a tech comeback.

Lou said the bank’s strategy of bringing together its investment banking, private equity and research teams had been instrumental in helping it capture opportunities with AI.

He credited the bank’s private equity arm, CICC Capital, which has actively invested across the AI sector, for helping it tap into the market and “get those deals done”.

“Those tech companies do trust the CICC brand because we have the tech expertise and the knowhow about the trends in China’s market,” said Lou. “We can fully leverage our in-house capabilities to provide investment banking solutions and offer a whole package for those tech companies.”

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The current wave of Chinese tech listings is happening alongside an AI-driven capital markets boom in the US and intensifying technological competition between the two countries. Lou forecast the Chinese listings surge would continue for another year.

“We still think there are very obvious and enormous market opportunities over the next 12 months, and they are less affected by liquidity constraints,” he said, referring to concerns that mega IPOs in the US would drain capital from Hong Kong.

“For AI and hard-tech companies, as long as you can show that you are a scarce asset in China’s market and have long-term investment value, you will still be welcomed by the market.”

CICC was established in 1995 as a joint venture between China Construction Bank and Morgan Stanley. After the US investment bank’s exit in 2010 and several rounds of shareholder restructuring, its controlling shareholder is now Central Huijin, China’s sovereign wealth fund.

Under Xi, Beijing has looked to reshape the financial sector from a profit-making machine into a tool for the nation’s strategic goals. In a 2024 speech calling for China to become a “financial powerhouse”, the president laid out a vision for the sector to develop the economy and avoid “blindly” pursuing expansion, which he said would lead to “crises”.

“The guiding view from the top is that finance should serve the real economy and help strengthen China’s economy and competitiveness,” said Dragon Tang, a finance professor at the University of Hong Kong. “Both the finance industry and finance practitioners will come under more scrutiny and regulation.”

CICC’s investment banking revenues staged a partial recovery last year, hitting Rmb4.9bn ($726mn), but its share of earnings has declined as other parts of the business, particularly wealth management, have grown. Group net profit rose 72 per cent to Rmb9.8bn.

Line chart of $ per share showing CICC's share price is still off from its peak

Rising competition in the Chinese financial sector has further squeezed investment banking margins. In recent years, Beijing has pushed for industry consolidation as the Chinese finance sector moves away from the freewheeling capitalist excesses of the 2000s.

“The market has become more competitive and issuers like CXMT have much bargaining power, reducing fees for bankers and financiers,” said Tang.

While CICC was a joint sponsor on the CXMT listing — China’s largest IPO in 16 years — the underwriting and sponsorship fee was just Rmb226.6mn ($33.6mn), or 0.39 per cent of the deal, to be shared with five other banks. The fee does not include an overallotment option that has yet to be exercised.

This figure is far smaller than the roughly $267mn in fees for the 2010 IPO of the Agricultural Bank of China when it listed in both Shanghai and Hong Kong, in which CICC also played a key role.

Despite CICC’s success in bringing tech darlings to public markets, investors appear less ready to embrace the new norm in China’s banking sector. The bank’s Hong Kong shares are almost 12 per cent below their peak, while those in Shanghai are down more than half.

In a filing to Hong Kong’s stock exchange last month, the bank said it would report a substantial increase in first-half profits. Its messaging echoed Beijing’s campaign to rework the financial sector into an instrument of the state.

In the announcement CICC said it “closely followed the policy directives for advancing the capital market reform. . . . The company exerted full efforts to serve the real economy and the national tech-driven strategy.”

Data visualisation by Haohsiang Ko in Hong Kong

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