As of February 16, the number of A-share IPOs under review has dropped to 210, a decrease of over 60% compared to the same period last year. Additionally, in 2024, the number of Chinese companies listed domestically and overseas decreased by 51.1%, with the initial fundraising amount at 144.266 billion yuan, a 63.6% decrease, both hitting a 10-year low.
According to Wind data, as of late February 16, a total of 40 companies have terminated their review process this year. Among them, 7, 21, and 12 companies have terminated their IPO applications on the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and ChiNext exchanges respectively, with 15 of them planning to debut on the Growth Enterprise Market, representing the highest proportion.
The number of A-share IPOs under review has dropped to 210 companies, a decrease of over 60% compared to the same period in 2024.
Notably, nearly two-thirds of the 23 photovoltaic companies have “terminated” their IPO plans. According to reporters from the “21st Century Economic Herald,” since 2024, a total of 23 photovoltaic companies in the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have announced their IPO progress, raising a combined total of 78.042 billion yuan. Of these, 15 photovoltaic companies have terminated their IPO applications, only 3 have successfully listed, and another 3 are still in the review stage.
According to statistics from the China Venture Research Center under Zero2IPO, in 2024, a total of 195 Chinese companies were listed domestically and overseas, a decrease of 51.1% year-on-year, with an initial fundraising amount of approximately 144.266 billion yuan, a 63.6% decrease, marking a near 10-year low in the number of listed companies and fundraising amounts.
In 2024, there were a total of 100 A-share listed companies, a 68.1% decrease compared to the previous year, with a total initial fundraising amount of 66.354 billion yuan, an 81.2% decrease.
Following the release of the five “red lines” and “nine national policies” by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the State Council, the A-share IPO process has been tightened, leading to a significant decrease in the number of successfully listed companies.
The IPO and quantitative trading in the Chinese stock market have been criticized by financial scholars as two “money-making” systems, allowing companies and investment institutions to irresponsibly take money from small retail investors.
After the China Securities Regulatory Commission shifted from an approval-based system to a registration-based system for IPOs on February 17, 2023, several companies have started shorting their own stocks immediately after going public. These companies quickly liquidate their holdings for profit, directly causing a drop in stock prices.
Lin Yixiang, the former head of the Securities Trading Monitoring System at the China Securities Regulatory Commission, pointed out that the fundamental problem in the Chinese capital market lies in the government’s inconsistent attitude towards capital and the market over the years, resulting in the market not maturing over 30 years, still lacking a clear direction and structure.
Quantitative trading refers to financial institutions using large-scale data analysis to automatically trade stocks based on pre-written model programs, thereby improving trading efficiency.
Financial scholar He Qiang once remarked that in a market where individual investors form the majority, the widespread use of quantitative trading makes the fate of individual investors even more difficult, like “before, it was a sickle cutting chives, now it’s a robot combined harvester harvesting chives.”
Cai Shenkun, a financial blogger based in the United States, pointed out that “the Chinese stock market serves state-owned enterprises, not bringing benefits to shareholders.”
According to statistics, out of over 5,300 A-share listed companies, nearly 1,500 are state-owned enterprises and central enterprises; the management of these enterprises cannot focus on operations and shareholder interests like Western companies do.