- The optical module giant raises HK$61.4 billion in Hong Kong’s largest IPO of 2026
- Its rise highlights Suzhou’s two-decade push to build a global optical communications hub
Zhongji Innolight (中际旭创), one of the world’s leading optical module makers, made its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 30, raising about HK$61.4 billion ($78.28 billion) in what became the city’s largest IPO of 2026 and the biggest listing since Alibaba’s Hong Kong secondary offering in 2019.
Zhongji Innolight opened at HK$971 per share today, down 0.92% from its HK$980 IPO price, marking a weak debut.
As of today’s close, its shares slid 9.15% from the opening price to HK$864, bringing its H-share market cap down to about HK$1.01 trillion.
Behind the global capital market milestone is a company whose growth has been closely tied to Suzhou Industrial Park, where its core operating business remains based.
In 2025, Zhongji Innolight generated revenue of 38.24 billion yuan ($5.65 billion), with its wholly owned subsidiary Suzhou Innolight contributing 36.45 billion yuan, accounting for more than 95% of total revenue.
The company’s new listing may expand its global capital footprint, but its technological foundation remains rooted in Suzhou.
A seed investment
In 2008, founder Liu Sheng (刘圣) and four other overseas PhDs returned to China to explore entrepreneurship opportunities.
When they visited Suzhou International Science Park, they were impressed by the concentration of technology startups and the entrepreneurial atmosphere, which Liu later compared to Silicon Valley.
At the time, high-tech startups faced significant financing challenges. Private investors were reluctant to back companies in emerging technology sectors.
Through Suzhou’s technology talent development program, Suzhou Venture Capital (the predecessor of Oriza Holdings) invested about 30 million yuan in the company’s Series A round, becoming a key early backer.
Liu later recalled that the investment arrived at a critical moment: without it, he might have abandoned his return-to-China entrepreneurship plan just two months later.
In 2014, Google Capital (now CapitalG) invested $38 million in the company, marking Google’s first investment in China. Beyond the funding itself, the deal signaled global recognition of the company’s technology capabilities.
Two decades of industrial groundwork
Suzhou began developing its optical communications ecosystem long before the current AI boom.
In 2002, the city started shifting away from labor-intensive manufacturing and prioritized emerging sectors including integrated circuits and optoelectronics — nearly two decades before ChatGPT brought AI infrastructure into the spotlight.
That early industrial planning helped create a dense supply chain covering optical chips, components, modules, fiber cables, PCBs, switching chips and testing equipment.
Today, companies across the optical communications value chain can collaborate within a relatively short geographic radius, reducing the time needed for product development, testing and delivery.
The city has also become a major destination for technology investment. By the first quarter of 2026, mutual funds held more market value in Suzhou technology companies than in any other Chinese city.
A manufacturing transformation
A pivotal moment came in 2017, when Zhongji Equipment (中际装备), a traditional electrical equipment manufacturer listed in Shandong, acquired Suzhou Innolight for 2.8 billion yuan.
After the deal, Liu’s team took over operations and transformed the company from a conventional manufacturing business into a global optical technology leader.
Since then, Zhongji Innolight has continued expanding in Suzhou. Its 800G optical modules held more than 40% of global market share in 2025, while its 1.6T products entered mass deployment.
In the first quarter of 2026, the company reported net profit attributable to shareholders of 5.735 billion yuan, exceeding its full-year profit in 2024.
Although Zhongji Innolight’s registered headquarters and legal domicile remain in Longkou, Shandong province, its core operations, R&D teams and major production capacity are concentrated in Suzhou.
From an early investment in a startup office at Suzhou International Science Park to the trading floor of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Zhongji Innolight’s journey spans 18 years.
Suzhou’s advantage was not simply producing a successful company — it was building the industrial foundation before the world recognized the value of the technology.
