China AI supply — chain IPOs hold firm despite valuation pullback, Citi says

By Selena Li Bangkok, Oct 17 (Reuters) — Listings of Chinese AI supply chain companies are expected to stand their ground weathering rising valuation concerns and increasingly sharper scrutiny, a Citi banker working with Chinese companies said. Despite recent valuation pullbacks on data centre companies, largely originating from the US market, future AI supply-chain listings would continue in Hong Kong, said Simon Yuen, Citi's head of China investment banking. Chinese companies plan to list in Hong Kong are cushioned by a roughly even split between domestic Chinese and international demand, Yuen, who also heads Citi’s financial institutions group in APAC, said ​on the sidelines of the IMF meetings in Bangkok. The market is supported by a pool of local liquidity, with rising southbound capital from the Chinese mainland emerging as a key buying force, Yuen said. Still, "if the whole AI cycle turns in the US — and we have seen some volatility in the last few weeks — you will see an impact everywhere, Hong Kong included,” he warned. Many Chinese hardware players have proactively established manufacturing footprints outside mainland China, he said, which helps them better service global