Hong Kong's equity capital markets desks finished the first half of 2026 ranked second globally for IPO fundraising, per Caixin Global's exchange league table (which measures capital raised, not capital retained in a tradeable free float, a distinction that does not appear in the league-table press release but does appear in the MSCI Equity Indexes methodology document). Reuters reported that Zhongji Innolight, the AI optics manufacturer whose revenue roughly doubles every time a hyperscaler reorders transceiver racks, is targeting a $7 billion Hong Kong listing. The math is not hard. A fifty to sixty percent cornerstone book on a $7 billion offering locks up between $3.5 billion and $4.2 billion of shares at signing (on a transaction that will price to the exchange's twenty-five percent minimum public float rule, which puts the day-one tradeable float at roughly the floor of what MSCI's Foreign Inclusion Factor methodology will pass before the index review team starts asking questions).

Right, neither fact is in dispute: HKEX is number two for H1 fundraising, and Zhongji's sponsors are in the room. The issue is lockup math. The SFC's Corporate Finance Division approved the cornerstone disclosure framework as it currently operates; the exchange's Listing Division set the twenty-five percent minimum public float rule the cornerstone model is engineered to clear at the margin, not exceed. Zhongji's listing document, when filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, will show the cornerstone allocation percentage; MSCI's November 2026 semi-annual index review will show whether the passive bid arrives before the lockup periods expire.