Sawt Falasteen - Chinese AI circuit board maker soars on Hong Kong debut

Victory Giant Technology Huizhou has said it will use most of the proceeds to expand production in mainland China.

It comes as the country races to boost domestic production of the microchips used to train and power generative AI tools, in a bid to rival the United States' prowess in the sector.

Shares in the Guangdong-based firm rocketed 59.6 percent in early trade to HK$335 (US$43), having set its price at HK$209.88 and raising HK$17.3 billion (US$2.2 billion).

Victory Giant, whose shares are already listed across the border in Shenzhen, makes high-end printed circuit boards (PCBs), a crucial component of AI servers.

One of its key customers is Nvidia, now the world's most valuable company thanks to feverish global demand for AI chips.

The initial public offering (IPO) is the biggest since Zijin Gold International raised US$3.7 billion in September.

It is also the latest in a recent run of blockbuster debuts from Chinese AI-related companies in Hong Kong, indicating optimism for China's ambitions in the sector.

Nvidia's most cutting-edge AI chips cannot be sold in China under US export rules that Washington says are to protect national security.

So Beijing is accelerating efforts to develop its own advanced semiconductors and break away from reliance on US hardware.

"China continues to prioritise AI infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and semiconductor-adjacent supply chains as strategic sectors," Dilin Wu, research strategist at Pepperstone, told AFP.

So "companies like Victory Giant benefit from both policy support and financing accessibility", she said.

While there is "sustained demand" for high-end PCBs owing to booming investment into AI servers and data centres worldwide, high prices may not last, Wu cautioned.

"The current cycle is still characterised by tight supply in high-end PCB manufacturing," she said.

"Whether this persists will depend on how quickly global and domestic capacity catches up with AI-driven demand growth."

This year has already brought strong Hong Kong IPOs from leading Chinese AI startups Zhipu AI and MiniMax, as well as graphics processing unit maker Shanghai Biren Technology and chip firm OmniVision Integrated Circuit Group.

Y.Shaath--SF-PST