Xi Jinping’s initial public offering boom
China’s capital markets are complying with the Communist Party’s vision
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Aside from a few rapid booms and busts, China’s main stock indices have hardly gained in value over the past decade.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The Economist
In a parallel universe, CloudWalk might have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in Hong Kong or New York. The company is one of the world’s leading facial recognition outfits: Its technology can recognise people in milliseconds with astonishing accuracy. But modern geopolitics pushed it in another direction.
The United States has sanctioned the company for alleged human rights violations, owing to reputed links with China’s military. So instead of listing on the Nasdaq in New York, CloudWalk chose Shanghai’s Star Market, a bourse set up in 2019 to attract China’s rising tech companies. The company’s share price is up by a fifth since its debut in May.