Memory Technologies Becomes Mainland China's Most Valuable Listed Firm After STAR Market Debut

Instead, its top two shareholders are both funds created by Hefei, the city where CXMT is headquartered. Hefei, the capital of eastern China's Anhui province and known to Koreans as 'Hapbi' from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, invested in CXMT in March 2023, buying shares at 1 yuan each for a total of 19.7 billion yuan (about 4.1 trillion won). By the close of trading on Nov.

27, just after the listing, the two funds' holdings had soared to 984 billion yuan (about 206.6 trillion won) — a book gain of roughly 50 times and a cumulative return of 5,000% in just over three years. To put it in Korean terms, it is as if Suwon and Icheon, where Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are headquartered, had invested before those companies went public and reaped huge profits afterward. The so-called 'Hefei model' — local governments leading investment in advanced industries like semiconductors — is considered unusual even within China's state-capitalist system. Rather than simple subsidies or low-interest loans from state banks, local governments directly acquire equity in promising firms like private venture capital or investment banks.