appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Wency Chen

This is part of a series on the global impact of SpaceX’s historic IPO, tracing how mainland Chinese investors’ strategies, the Hong Kong market and wider capital flows are being reshaped by Elon Musk’s trillion‑dollar rocket gamble.
Chinese investors are scrambling for back-door routes to trade on SpaceX’s highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO), resorting to proxy stocks and supply chain speculation after being shut out of direct participation in what could be the largest listing in history.
The frenzy surrounding Elon Musk’s rocket and satellite internet giant has triggered a wave of fear-of-missing-out among mainland Chinese investors. Blocked from buying the stock directly, they are chasing exposure through offshore accounts, A-share proxy stocks and broader commercial-space-themed investments.
The hurdle is steep. SpaceX has barred investors in mainland China and Hong Kong from taking part in the IPO, citing regulatory and compliance concerns, Bloomberg News reported last week.
The company kicked off its marketing roadshow last week with shares priced at US$135 each, aiming for a valuation of about US$1.8 trillion ahead of its expected Nasdaq debut on Friday. The offering has drawn more than US$250 billion in investor demand, Reuters reported this week, leaving it roughly 3 1/2 to four times oversubscribed.
Even seasoned cross-border traders are hitting a wall.
“I can only buy after it lists,” said Wang Xi, a retail investor on the mainland who has traded US stocks through an Interactive Brokers account for years. He had hoped to secure an allotment, but the platform has restricted SpaceX IPO access to eligible clients in the United Kingdom.
SpaceX’s move coincides with a broader tightening of offshore market access for mainland citizens. Beijing launched a two-year crackdown on unlicensed cross-border securities services last month, forcing popular platforms like Futu Holdings, Tiger Brokers and Longbridge to heavily restrict new accounts and deposits for mainland users.
Despite the restrictions, brokerages are capitalising on the hype to lure offshore clients. Futu launched a campaign this month offering new users up to HK$1,600 (US$204.16) worth of SpaceX shares, while Tiger advertised a HK$188 fractional share incentive for new account sign-ups.
I hope SpaceX’s listing performance, if it rallies sharply, can spill over into A shares
Eric Liu, mainland investor
For mainland capital, demand has spilled over into China’s domestic A-share market, pushing Chinese demand for SpaceX further away from direct participation and into looser proxy trades in A shares and Hong Kong-listed space-related companies.
By Wednesday, an index tracking China’s commercial space sector compiled by financial data provider Shanghai DZH was up 7.5 per cent this year. While that outperformed the 1.9 per cent gain in the blue-chip CSI 300 benchmark, it lagged the 21.4 per cent rally in Shanghai’s tech-heavy Star Market 50 index.
“I hope SpaceX’s listing performance, if it rallies sharply, can spill over into A shares,” said Eric Liu, another investor based on the mainland who began building a position in a domestic commercial-space sector mutual fund earlier this year, betting on a SpaceX IPO and China’s policy support for the sector.
His bet has not paid off yet – the fund is down about 10 per cent – but his portfolio highlights how the mainland’s investors are trying to play the SpaceX theme.
The mutual fund’s core holdings include three major listed subsidiaries of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the main state-owned space contractor.
China Aerospace Times Electronics is a 68.9 billion yuan (US$10.3 billion) heavyweight that commands a key position in aerospace electronics, navigation systems and telemetry for China’s space programme.
China Spacesat, valued at 91.8 billion yuan, is the primary listed vehicle for satellite manufacturing and applications, specialising in small and micro-sized satellites.
China Satellite Communications is a 129.5 billion yuan satellite communication operator with key communications and broadcasting satellite assets, orbital-frequency resources and ground-station networks.


Beyond state giants, component makers with thematic links to SpaceX’s ecosystem are seeing explosive speculative runs.
Sunway Communication, a Shenzhen-listed maker of radio-frequency components, has emerged as one of the hottest A-share proxies, hitting a record high late last month. Its shares have surged 55.6 per cent this year, catapulting its market value to 93.3 billion yuan as of Wednesday close.
Sunway’s core business spans antennas and high-precision connectors, while its newer satellite communications business focuses on high-speed connectors for low-Earth-orbit ground terminals. Chinese brokerage reports have described the company as a supplier to Starlink ground terminals, though Sunway’s own disclosures refer more generally to a “leading North American customer”.
Similarly, glass product and electronics assembler Lens Technology – a long-time supplier to Tesla, Musk’s electric vehicle company – has gained proxy status after disclosing it had shipped satellite ground receiver parts to a long-term “North American major customer”.
Other bets are more speculative. Western Materials, which has been rumoured to supply core rocket engine materials to SpaceX, saw its shares hit a record high last month. Management later told shareholders that while its titanium and high-end alloy products were being supplied to overseas commercial-space industry chains, no details could be disclosed.
Analysts said SpaceX’s listing could act as a catalyst and benchmark for China’s commercial space sector.
“SpaceX’s formal listing timetable and fixed offer price suggest its valuation is not significantly detached from market expectations,” said Li Hongtao, an analyst at Huayuan Securities. “This is expected to support a valuation uplift for China’s commercial-space supply chain.”
He added that China’s commercial-space industry was showing signs of acceleration, including more frequent satellite launches, reusable rocket testing and stronger policy and capital support, as well as a growing IPO pipeline.


As the US weighs restrictions on cloud computing, how will China’s AI sector adapt?

US announces AI dialogue with China, launches Board of Trade

China needs US-style immigration policy to win tech rivalry with Washington: expert

Trump says he will create ‘AI Force’, name AI tsar

US-China tech war

Shut out of the SpaceX IPO, Chinese investors get creative to catch a ride

Illustration: Reuters

A SpaceX Falcon 9 with a first-stage booster flying for a record 35th time launches from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 on Monday. Photo: SpaceX/TNS

SpaceX IPO set to lift industry in push for space-based AI computing, solar power: report

A SpaceX booster carrying the Starship spacecraft lifts off at Starbase, Texas, on May 22. Photo: Reuters

SpaceX signage displayed in Hawthorne, California. The company will launch its IPO on Friday. Photo: AFP

China launches space computing hub as SpaceX gears up for historic IPO

The establishment of the institute marks a major step in the China-US AI rivalry, which is increasingly extending beyond Earth. Photo: Shutterstock

A banner from China’s private rocket company LandSpace, which is one of the backers of the Beijing Space Intelligent Computing Research Institute. Photo: Reuters

China merges lunar programmes as race to moon with US heats up after latest SpaceX launch

Pictures of the moon’s surface taken by the Chang’e-6 probe in 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

How Hong Kong’s investors can gain exposure to SpaceX’s record-breaking US$75 billion IPO

The SpaceX logo displayed at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Photo: AP

Liquidity drain from SpaceX’s mega listing unlikely to ripple into Hong Kong: JPMorgan

A SpaceX rocket lifts off at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo: Reuters

Hong Kong retained its leading position in IPO proceeds in the first quarter of 2026, with 37 companies raising US$13.26 billion. Photo: Jelly Tse

Tech

SpaceX IPO: views from the ground

Concerns mount in China’s space sector that Musk’s Starship will be a failure

The Starship and Super Heavy Booster create sound waves on lift-off for the 12th test flight from the SpaceX launch complex in Texas on Friday. Photo: Reuters

Before Elon Musk’s SpaceX, these were the world’s 5 largest IPOs

The New York Stock Exchange decorated for the first day of trading for Alibaba on September 19, 2014. Photo: Shutterstock

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket above the sky in Pasadena, California on April 6. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

Chairman of Agricultural Bank of China Xiang Junbo (left) and chairman of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Ronald Arculli at the Agricultural Bank of China’s listing ceremony in Central on July 16, 2010. Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Who pays when rockets explode? China insures SpaceX’s rivals in orbital race against US

The SpaceX rocket that blew up in 2016 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Photo: EPA

A total of 17 Chinese insurers, including Ping An, have launched a dedicated consortium to cover Shenzhen’s commercial-space supply chain. Photo: Getty Images

China’s space start-ups eye IPO boom as SpaceX heads for record listing

A SpaceX rocket launches from a company facility in the United States. The company's planned US$75 billion IPO is expected to accelerate listing plans among China's emerging commercial space companies. Photo: Reuters

SpaceX’s listing could serve as a valuation benchmark for Chinese commercial aerospace companies. Photo: Reuters

China’s Zhuque-3 rocket. Beijing has made the development of commercial aerospace a national priority, identifying it as one of six key strategic sectors in its latest five-year plan. Photo: Reuters 

As Musk secures first trillionaire status with SpaceX IPO, will the next come from China?

Elon Musk in Beijing on May 14. Photo: AP

Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre, front) poses for a photo with a group of CEOs and other executives, including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg (far left, front) JD.com’s Liu Qiangdong (second from left, front), Alibaba’s Jack Ma (fourth from left, front), Microsoft’s Satya Nadella (fifth from right, front), Apple’s Tim Cook (third front right, front), Tencent’s Pony Ma (second from right, front) and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos (far right, front). Photo: AFP

The SpaceX factor: Hong Kong stocks face liquidity test from mega IPO

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is displayed outside the company’s facility in Hawthorne, California, on June 8. Photo: AFP

Pedestrians wait to cross a street near a screen showing the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong on June 8. Photo: AFP

Proxy stocks and supply chain speculation are among options after being locked out of what could be largest listing ever


Proxy stocks and supply chain speculation are among options after being locked out of what could be largest listing ever.


Shut out of the SpaceX IPO, Chinese investors get creative to catch a ride

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Proxy stocks and supply chain speculation are among options after being locked out of what could be largest listing ever

Proxy stocks and supply chain speculation are among options after being locked out of what could be largest listing ever