Unitree gets STAR Market green light in China's 'hard-tech' IPO wave

China's capital market is rolling out the welcome mat for the country's most promising tech firms, with the latest milestone achieved by humanoid robot company Unitree.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange's STAR Market listing committee officially approved Unitree's initial public offering application on Monday, clearing the path for what will be the first "embodied artificial intelligence" listing on the Chinese A-share market.

The company plans to raise 4.2 billion yuan ($620 million) to fund four major projects: research and development of intelligent robot models, robotics hardware development, new product innovation and a smart manufacturing base. 

Unitree was also selected by Nvidia for the first robotics design the US chipmaker is selling to research institutions, including those from Stanford and ETH Zurich, the company announced Monday.

What makes Unitree's approval particularly striking is its speed: The approval came just 73 days after Unitree's filing was accepted on March 20, setting a new record for the fastest review under the STAR Market's pre-review since the mechanism was introduced in July 2025, according to Science and Technology Daily.

The mechanism has significantly improved the review efficiency for companies operating in critical core technology sectors. 

Wave of 'hard-tech' IPOs

Unitree's rapid breakthrough is part of a broader wave of "hard-tech" listings.

CXMT, the world's fourth-largest DRAM manufacturer with roughly 8% of the market, was approved last Wednesday by the Shanghai Stock Exchange for listing on its Science and Technology Innovation Board. CXMT's lucrative memory chip business, driven by the "AI supercycle," has earned the company 33 billion yuan ($4.58 billion) in the first quarter alone, almost covering the deficit accumulated over the past decade.

YMTC, China's only 3D NAND flash memory manufacturer, began its pre-IPO preparation in May. Counterpoint data shows YMTC's market share edged up to 11% in the last quarter of 2025, just 2 percentage points behind SanDisk and Micron, ranking sixth globally. The company is also expected to become a trillion-yuan stock.

The accelerating wave of tech IPOs underscores the rapid ascent of China's advanced technology sectors and promises to significantly enhance the pricing authority and investment appeal of A-shares in advanced manufacturing and core technologies. 

(With input from Xinhua; Cover via VCG)