Chinese LLM developers' listing boom signals shift to commercial application

A recent listing boom among Chinese large language model (LLM) developers indicates the industry's transformation from technological exploration to commercial application, according to experts.

Knowledge Atlas Technology Joint Stock Co. Ltd., a Chinese artificial intelligence firm known as Zhipu, began trading in Hong Kong on Thursday, followed by the listing of another AI startup, MiniMax, on Friday.

Both listings have garnered significant market attention.

Experts say Hong Kong is an ideal listing venue for large language model developers, which spend heavily on research and development and are still refining their business models, because the city's stock exchange has relatively flexible revenue and profitability requirements.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong stock market's global reach, they add, will enable the AI upstarts to connect with international investors.

China's six leading LLM companies -- including Zhipu and MiniMax -- have taken different paths in technology and commercialization.

Zhipu focuses on enterprise-level and industry applications, centered on an artificial general intelligence foundation model, while MiniMax relies on multimodal models and targets the consumer market with AI-native products.

Meanwhile, Moonshot AI and Stepfun continue to update their model technologies and applications. Baichuan AI and 01.AI are focusing on medical and enterprise commercialization, respectively.

Industry insiders say this wave of IPOs by Chinese large language model developers may mark the sector's shift from pure research and development toward the parallel advancement of technology and commercialization, as business models become clearer.

The shift will provide a basis for future financing and valuations of LLM companies.

From a longer-term perspective, the AI sector is still undergoing rapid growth.

According to a report by market research firm Frost and Sullivan, China's LLM market reached 5.3 billion yuan (about 758.90 million U.S. dollars) in 2024 and is estimated to grow to 101.1 billion yuan by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate of 63.5 percent.

Chinese LLM developers' listing boom signals shift to commercial application

China's top diplomat Wang Yi on Tuesday emphasized the importance of upholding international rules, saying that the conflict between the United States and Iran, which has lasted for over a hundred days, has severely impacted the regional and international situation.

Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, made the remarks during the 16th Meeting of BRICS National Security Advisors and High Representatives on National Security held in New Delhi, India.

He said that the recent signing of the first phase of the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding, along with the conflict, has made many things clear to us.

The first is the importance of upholding international rules, Wang said at Tuesday's conference.

"The settlement of any international and regional hotspot issues should be based on abiding by international rules. The law of the jungle may succeed for a while, but it is not sustainable," he said.

The second is the importance of respecting national sovereignty, Wang said, adding that territorial integrity shall not be violated and a country's internal affairs shall not be interfered with. This is the most basic bottom line of international justice, he noted.

The third point is the importance of establishing a new vision of security, Wang said.

"Countries are increasingly becoming a community with a shared future. The practice of seeking absolute security of oneself at the expense of others will only backfire," he said.

The Chinese top diplomat said that the fourth is to understand the significance of new forms of war. Unconventional warfare, such as information warfare and cyber warfare, has become more visible in recent conflicts. Facing interwoven traditional and non-traditional security threats, it is the right time for BRICS countries to enhance dialogue and cooperation on security affairs.

China's top diplomat stresses int'l rules at BRICS meeting