ChangXin Memory Technologies aims to raise about RMB66.6 billion in Shanghai IPO; Q1 revenue jumps over 700%

ChangXin Memory Technologies, China’s largest maker of memory chips, is preparing to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and aims to raise up to about RMB66.6 billion in an initial public offering. Strong investor demand drove the offer price to roughly double the earlier guidance, making the deal Asia’s biggest IPO of 2026 and one of the largest ever in China’s domestic equity market.

The memory chip industry is experiencing surging demand from artificial intelligence, especially for data-center construction. ChangXin has benefited from that trend, but it also faces tighter operational constraints. Under pressure from the United States, multiple countries have imposed export restrictions that prevent the company from obtaining the most advanced chip-manufacturing equipment. Those curbs have instead turned ChangXin into a crucial player in China’s effort to build a homegrown supply chain and reduce reliance on foreign technology.

ChangXin posted first-quarter 2026 revenue of RMB50.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of more than 700%. The company turned a profit of over $1 billion in 2025, a dramatic swing from a loss of nearly $3 billion in 2023. In the global memory chip market, which has long been dominated by Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology, ChangXin is gradually gaining a foothold.

Its global market share reached 8% in the first quarter of 2026, up from 3% in the same period a year earlier. Founded in 2016 and based in Hefei, Anhui province, the company is led by founder and chairman Zhu Yiming, a Tsinghua University graduate who started a chip-design startup in Silicon Valley before returning to China. In its early years ChangXin racked up persistent losses and received billions of dollars in government subsidies.

Despite rapid progress, ChangXin still lags behind market leaders in the most advanced high-bandwidth memory technology, as trade restrictions bar it from purchasing cutting-edge chipmaking tools. It is collaborating with domestic Chinese suppliers to develop homegrown alternatives.

Geopolitics has become an integral part of the business. The Pentagon has placed the state-backed company on a list of entities with ties to China’s military, making it a potential national-security concern.