China's largest chip IPO is coming

Following Moer and Muxi, will there be an exciting IPO in A-shares in 2026?

The answer is—it’s already here. A larger IPO than the combined Moer and Muxi is about to arrive.

Recently, a piece of news: Changxin Technology’s application for a Sci-Tech Innovation Board IPO was accepted on December 30, 2025, using a pre-review mechanism during the declaration process.

A brief introduction to Changxin Technology: China’s largest and most advanced DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) chip R&D, design, and manufacturing integrated enterprise.

How big is Changxin Technology’s IPO?

Before the IPO, Changxin Technology’s valuation reached approximately 150 billion yuan. Referring to Moer and Muxi, Moer’s pre-IPO valuation was 24.62 billion yuan, and Muxi’s was about 21.07 billion yuan; their combined valuation is just a fraction of Changxin Technology’s.

Based on the logic of Moer’s 400% first-day surge and Muxi’s 692%, with market caps reaching trillions, the prospects for Changxin Technology’s sector and market positioning are even more promising, and its valuation logic will only grow larger. In a hot market, will Changxin Technology’s listing push the IPO to a trillion-yuan scale?

In terms of proposed fundraising, Changxin Technology plans to raise 29.5 billion yuan. This is the second-largest fundraising scale for an IPO since the Sci-Tech Innovation Board opened. The largest was SMIC, which raised about 53.23 billion yuan, and by September 2025, its market cap once surpassed one trillion yuan.

A wealth feast is coming like a relay race, and Changxin Technology’s listing may push the market to another peak.

Three massive financings, entering the “All-Star” shareholder list

Founded in 2016, Changxin Technology’s registration capital is as high as 60.19 billion yuan, with a shareholder list of up to 60 entities, and has experienced 8 changes in shareholders, including 3 major financings.

In 2020, Changxin Technology completed a massive Series A financing of 15.65 billion yuan, shaking the market. Over a dozen investors participated, including non-Hefei state-owned investors such as China Merchants Securities, TCL Venture Capital, CCB International, China Life Investment, PICC Capital, China Merchants ZhiYuan Capital, ABC Investment, CMB International Capital, Xiaomi Yangtze River Industry Fund, Junlian Capital, CICC Capital, National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, Pro Capital, Haitong Kaiyuan, among others.

In 2022, Changxin Technology completed Series C+ financing, raising 8.39 billion yuan, with a post-investment valuation of 107.789 billion yuan. This round also saw participation from Tencent Investment, Huateng International, Alibaba, China Post Insurance, Hesheng Health, Orient Asset Management, Westar Group, Junhe Capital, Shenzhen Investment Holdings, Qianhai Mother Fund, Greater Bay Area Common Home Development Fund, Shuimu Fund, Sunshine Insurance, and other non-Hefei state-owned investors.

In March 2024, Changxin Technology raised 10.8 billion yuan, with a post-investment valuation of about 150 billion yuan. Besides the 1.5 billion yuan invested by GigaDevice, there were also investments from Hefei Changxin Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd., Hefei Chuangtou No.1 Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), China Construction Bank Financial Asset Investment Co., Ltd., and others.

Whether it’s 15.6 billion, 8.39 billion, or 10.8 billion yuan, each round of financing by Changxin Technology exceeds the fundraising amount of a unicorn company IPO.

The shareholders behind Changxin Technology form an “All-Star” list, covering various levels of state-owned institutions, market-oriented VC/PE, industry giants, and financial institutions. Among them, state-owned shareholders hold over 36% of shares, with no actual controlling shareholder.

How can Changxin Technology support such a huge valuation?

As China’s largest and most advanced DRAM IDM enterprise, Changxin Technology has become the fourth-largest DRAM manufacturer globally. It has broken the decades-long “tripartite” dominance of Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron.

It has also gained key market share. Its DDR4 products occupied about 5% of the global market in 2024 and are expected to continue increasing. In the “winner-takes-all” semiconductor industry, breakthrough market share from 0 to 1 is invaluable.

More importantly, the massive investments have begun to pay off, and Changxin Technology is gradually emerging from losses.

In 2022, 2023, and 2024, the company’s net profits attributable to parent were -8.98 billion yuan, -6.901 billion yuan, and -5.526 billion yuan, respectively. According to the latest forecasts, the company is expected to reach a historic profit turning point in 2025, with annual net profits of 2 billion to 3.5 billion yuan.

The revenue behind this growth is explosive: in 2024, revenue reached 24.178 billion yuan, and is expected to leap to 55-58 billion yuan in 2025, more than doubling. Such growth rate is rare among global heavy-asset semiconductor companies.

At this moment, Changxin Technology’s listing coincides with another favorable factor: the industry’s “strongest ever” price increase cycle.

In early 2026, due to explosive demand for AI servers, global DRAM giants plan to raise prices by 60%-70%, entering a strong boom cycle. As a major supplier, Changxin Technology will directly benefit from both volume and price increases.

There are reports that DRAM is becoming the “Maotai of electronics,” with prices “one per day” after the start of the year. Industry insiders describe: “If you buy 100 sticks at once, packed in a box, it’s 4 million yuan, worth more than many properties in Shanghai.”

The core driver behind the price surge is the exponential growth in demand for high-bandwidth memory and standard DDR5 memory for AI servers, while global capacity expansion remains limited. Industry analysis shows that a high-end AI server’s DRAM capacity is 8-10 times that of a normal server.

Now, Changxin Technology has successfully developed LPDDR5L series products, enabling it to stand at the crest of this wave.

In summary, the valuation of Changxin Technology reflects not only market imagination but also investors’ deep expectations for China’s semiconductor self-reliance.

Yancheng tycoon Zhu Yiming

Tracing back to the origins, the story of Changxin Technology begins with Yancheng tycoon Zhu Yiming.

Born in 1972 in Yancheng, Jiangsu, Zhu Yiming earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Modern Applied Physics from Tsinghua University, then studied at Stony Brook University in New York, earning a master’s in Electronic Engineering. This laid a solid foundation in physics and engineering.

During his time in the US, he worked as an engineer at semiconductor company iPolicy Networks, experiencing Silicon Valley’s chip innovation ecosystem firsthand. This experience gave him a deep understanding of the core logic of the semiconductor industry: technology-driven, global competition, winner-takes-all.

Zhu Yiming climbed two mountains. The first was GigaDevice.

In 2005, Zhu Yiming returned to China with his technology and dreams, founding ChipTech JiaYi Microelectronics (GigaDevice’s predecessor) at Tsinghua Science Park in Beijing.

He avoided the red ocean of giants in CPU and memory markets, choosing the smaller but rapidly growing NOR Flash (code-type flash memory) field. At that time, it was the key chip for storing startup code in mobile phones, DVDs, and other devices.

Starting a business was tough; the company nearly faced a cash flow crisis. The turning point came in 2008 when he led the team to successfully develop China’s first Serial NOR Flash chip, with performance comparable to international giants, opening the market. An early investor later recalled: “He was holding a demo board, eyes shining.”

With continuous technological innovation and market expansion, GigaDevice successfully listed on the Shanghai Main Board in 2016 and gradually became one of the top three NOR Flash suppliers globally.

By then, Zhu Yiming had achieved success.

But he did not stop there. When GigaDevice was thriving, Zhu Yiming made a shocking decision: a second startup to conquer DRAM, monopolized by the world’s top three giants. This is the most significant, most technically complex, and riskiest “no-man’s land” in the semiconductor field.

The all-in decision was made in 2016. He gradually stepped back from daily management at GigaDevice, dedicating all his energy to the new project, Changxin Technology. To demonstrate his determination, he publicly promised: before Changxin Technology turns a profit, he would not take any salary or bonuses. This vow was like “burning the boats.”

Zhu Yiming’s technical approach was clever. Facing tight patent restrictions, Changxin Technology legally purchased thousands of patents from the bankrupt German company Qimonda and based its deep R&D and innovation on these. This avoided patent minefields and provided a valuable technical starting point.

The breakthrough from 0 to 1 occurred in September 2019, when Changxin announced mass production of its first 10nm (19nm) DDR4 memory chips, marking China’s first zero in the DRAM field.

This moment is remembered by countless industry insiders.

Having climbed two peaks in the semiconductor industry, Zhu Yiming is now a capable figure. In the realm of hard technology, top-tier technical judgment, steadfast strategic patience, and the responsibility of binding personal reputation with grand enterprise are more precious than short-term profits. This is the most convincing chapter in the story behind Changxin Technology’s billion-yuan valuation.

“Hefei Model” creates another benchmark case

In fact, behind Changxin Technology’s start-up, besides leaders like Zhu Yiming, there is also a bold venture capital supporter—the Hefei municipal government.

The project required massive funding. At a critical moment, Hefei’s government demonstrated extraordinary strategic vision, agreeing to provide 75% of the initial capital, about 13.5 billion yuan. GigaDevice contributed the remaining 25%.

In effect, Hefei’s government took on the highest “death risk” early on, enabling Zhu Yiming’s team to start this super project, which required hundreds of billions and years to see results, on a nearly empty slate of technology, patents, and talent. Without this step, subsequent social capital would have no foundation.

According to the prospectus, multiple Hefei government funds directly invested in Changxin Technology, including: Hefei Changxin Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd., a Hefei state-owned enterprise holding 11.71%; Hefei Chuangtou No.1 Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), a fund under Hefei Chuangtou, holding 1.85%; Hefei Jianchang Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), a fund under Hefei Construction Investment, holding 1.50%; Hefei Chuangtou High-Growth No.1 Equity Investment Partnership, a fund under Hefei Chuangtou, holding 0.06%.

Hefei also indirectly holds 21.67% through its largest shareholder, “Hefei Qinghui Jidian Enterprise Management Partnership,” controlled entirely by Hefei state assets (via Hefei Chuangtou and Changxin Integrated Circuit). Additionally, Anhui Investment Group Holdings Co., Ltd. holds 7.91%.

In summary, Hefei’s government is the largest capital supporter behind Changxin Technology.

The bold gamble by Hefei is driven by two considerations:

First, a high recognition of Zhu Yiming’s personal reputation, technical judgment, and execution. A Hefei Chuangtou official once said: “We invested in Zhu Yiming himself, and the potential he represents.”

Second, like BOE and NIO, the goal of the “Hefei Model” is never just to cultivate a single enterprise but to build a globally competitive industrial cluster.

Taking Changxin Technology as the “chain leader,” Hefei has systematically introduced and cultivated upstream and downstream supporting enterprises in materials, equipment, packaging, testing, such as Zhichun Technology, Jiangfeng Electronics, and others.

Moreover, there are collaborations. For example, in 2023, Hefei established the Anhui Province New Generation Information Technology Industry Fund. This industry fund, with a total scale of 30 billion yuan, operates through a parent-child fund structure. The parent fund’s scale is no less than 12.5 billion yuan, managed by Changxin’s CVC—Changxin Chip Ju. This parent fund has invested 1.285 billion yuan in Hefei Economic Development Zone’s Haheng Emerging Industry Fund to support regional new-generation information technology and future industry projects.

A landmark cooperation is the “Hefei Qihang Hengxin Fund,” managed by Changxin’s Qihang Xinyu Private Equity Fund Management Company, with a total scale of 1.0625 billion yuan. Its investors form a micro “Changxin ecosystem”: including core suppliers like Guanggang Gas, Shanghai Xinyang, as well as local government capital like Anhui Province New Generation Information Technology Industry Fund, Hefei Chuangtou, and financial institutions like Guoyuan Securities. This means Changxin Technology is not only a manufacturing enterprise but also an industry organizer.

As a leading industry player, Changxin Technology is leveraging its industry insight and capital influence to support Hefei, jointly forging a highly competitive semiconductor industry chain.

In Hefei’s landscape, Changxin Technology, following BOE and NIO, is another benchmark case where the Hefei government led initial funding to cultivate industry leaders.