China is on a mission to domesticate its chip equipment manufacturing industry

Chinese chipmaker Montage is planning a $10 billion IPO in Hong Kong, and Alibaba, along with JPMorgan Asset Management, is putting in money early. They’re joining as cornerstone investors, which means they’re buying in before the shares go public and have to keep their stock for a fixed period, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The listing is expected to raise about $900 million, with room for more if banks use the overallotment option. Other investors locking in early allocations include Aberdeen, Mirae Asset Securities, and UBS.

Montage’s stock already trades in Shanghai and had seen a 73% rally in 2025. Orders for the Hong Kong sale will reportedly open as soon as Friday, with trading possible later this month.

Montage pulled in a 1.4 billion yuan profit in 2024, which comes out to around $196 million. Analysts think that number could hit 2.3 billion yuan in 2025, and go up again to 3.3 billion yuan in 2026.

China is on a mission to domesticate its chip equipment manufacturing industry

The Hong Kong deal lands during a record start to the year for new listings. IPOs in the city raised $4.3 billion in the first two weeks of 2026, driven mainly by Chinese companies tied to AI. Large investors have returned as the market recovered through 2025, bringing back cornerstone deals similar to this one.

By the end of 2025, China’s locally-made chip equipment made up 35% of what was used across the industry. That’s up from 25% in 2024, and it went past the 30% goal that President Xi Jinping had set earlier that year.

Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment developed a 5-nanometer etching machine now in validation on TSMC advanced lines, according to SCMP.

Naura oxidation and diffusion furnaces accounted for more than 60% of 28-nanometer lines at SMIC, with its order backlog running into the first quarter of 2027. Piotech doubled its share of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition tools at YMTC, lifting its share to 30%.

Meanwhile, Cryptopolitan earlier reported that China has made it mandatory that all local chip projects must source at least 50% of tools locally. The country is expected to remain the world’s largest semiconductor equipment market through 2027, supported by heavy capital spending.

Jinping has since offered government support via the state-backed China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, which committed 2 billion yuan to core tool development, and from industry subsidies covering up to 15% of equipment purchases.

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