Illustrated photo showing Moore Threads logo on a smartphone in Suqian, Jiangsu Province, China, October 30, 2025.
Photo | Future Publishing | Getty Images
China's most popular publicly traded artificial intelligence companies are delivering impressive returns.
Shares of chipmaker MetaX Integrated Circuits soared nearly 700% in its Shanghai market debut last week, while Moore Threads soared more than 400% on its first day of trading earlier this month.
While domestic investors are vying for exposure to China's promising tech stocks, foreign investors have been largely left out of participating in such blockbuster stocks.
Chris Zhang, executive director of China Fortune Securities Company, a Chinese financial services company, said foreign retail investors in particular are excluded from IPOs in mainland China, “and it's not even possible, unless you open an account with a Chinese brokerage firm.”
Opening a domestic brokerage account with a Chinese brokerage requires a linked Chinese bank account and typically requires proof of residence in China or a valid Chinese visa. Foreigners must also already hold other mainland-listed stocks before being eligible to participate in the IPO lottery.
Zhang said most foreign banks do not have the necessary arrangements with Chinese brokers to support account opening, making the process unfeasible for the majority of overseas retail investors.
According to official guidance from the Shanghai municipal government, only a limited number of foreigners can directly open a brokerage account for A shares, which are stocks listed on mainland China. For example, foreigners with permanent resident status, workers in China, and foreigners working abroad using the equity incentive plan of A-share listed companies.
For many global investors, Stock Connect, a program that gives Hong Kong and mainland China exchanges mutual access to each other's stocks, is the most convenient way to gain exposure to Chinese stocks.
The system allows overseas investors to buy A shares through Hong Kong brokers without the need for a domestic account or special license, but the system is of little use when it comes to IPOs or newly listed stocks. Access is also subject to the Hong Kong broker's eligibility requirements, such as minimum account balance and risk disclosure.
“Stock Connect does not work because newly listed stocks are not yet included in Stock Connect. It typically takes weeks or months for stocks to become eligible,” said Theodore Shaw, chief investment officer at Skybound Capital.
A company's participation in the Stock Connect scheme depends on whether its shares meet eligibility rules such as sufficient trading activity and market value. To qualify, a certain period of trading and data history is often required.
Tissue exposure
Northbound trading, where overseas and Hong Kong investors buy mainland Chinese stocks through Stock Connect and other schemes, is not available until “typically several months after listing,” Shaw said. Still, there is no guarantee that Moore Threads and MetaX will be included.
Foreign retail investors can gain limited exposure through offshore funds that invest in A-shares.
Foreign retail investors interested in STAR Market's IPOs, such as Moore Thread and Metax, can invest in non-China-based funds that invest in A-shares, and these funds typically participate in IPOs, Shaw said.
China's STAR Market is a Nasdaq-style high-tech board in Shanghai that focuses on strategic sectors such as semiconductors, AI and biotech, with relaxed profitability requirements and greater access to foreign retail investors.
“However, such participation is indirect, very limited and of little significance,” he said, warning that the IPO allocation could be insignificant compared to the fund's total assets.
Foreign retail investors are largely barred from accessing mainland Chinese IPOs, but some large institutions are able to participate in IPOs.
The Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) program allows approved global institutions to invest directly in Chinese domestic stocks, including IPOs. However, it is designed for large asset managers, sovereign wealth funds, and banks, not individual investors.
QFII includes investment banks and central banks such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, as well as hundreds of other participants.
QFII and Renminbi The QFII scheme is a program that allows approved institutional investors to trade onshore A-shares and participate in IPOs, but it requires approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and foreign exchange registration and settlement is supervised by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).
Although China's QFII and RQFII regimes do not set clear criteria for asset size or operating history, applicants must be institutions with sound financial standing, relevant investment experience, strong governance and compliance systems, and clean regulatory records.
You will also need to appoint a shore custodian and complete foreign exchange registration with SAFE.
The CSI 300 Information Technology Index, which measures the performance of China's CSI 300 IT companies, is up 32% since the beginning of the year. By comparison, the benchmark CSI 300 index is up 17%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Tech Index is up 24% since the beginning of the year.