- Niche market limits growth outlook even as Xiaomi-backed investors emerge as IPO winners.
- Earnings outlook tightly tethered to volatile copper prices as raw material costs surge and dominate revenue structure
Shares of Hangzhou-based cultural collectibles maker Tongshifu slumped nearly half on their Hong Kong trading debut, underscoring investor skepticism toward niche consumer stories despite strong retail demand during the offering.
The listing crowned Tongshifu, literally meaning “master copper,” as China’s first publicly traded copper cultural-creative brand, but weak global secondary-market appetite highlighted concerns over growth limits, commodity exposure and the cyclical nature of its market.
Tongshifu closed at HK$30.5 ($3.9) on its first trading day, down 49.17% from its HK$60 offer price, giving the company a market capitalization of roughly HK$2 billion.
The company sold 7.41 million shares globally, raising about HK$440 million, with Hong Kong retail investors subscribing nearly 60 times the allocated tranche while international investors showed more muted demand at 1.56 times subscription.
Backed by Xiaomi-affiliated investors Shunwei Capital and Tianjin Jinmi Capital, which together invested about 160 million yuan and hold more than 22%, the IPO turned the tech giant’s investment arms into the biggest financial winner.
Following the listing, Xiaomi-affiliated funds’ stake is valued at roughly HK$550 million, based on the company’s market cap as of today.
Founded in Jiande, a city governed by Hangzhou, by Yu Guang, a copper artist, Tongshifu has spent more than a decade transforming traditional copper handicrafts into mass-market cultural collectibles, earning a reputation among industry observers as a “Pop Mart for middle-aged consumers.”
Its core customers are aged 30 to 55 — a demographic largely overlooked by China’s fast-growing designer toy sector.
According to Frost & Sullivan, Tongshifu ranks first in China’s copper cultural-creative products market by revenue, commanding a 35% share.
According to its disclosures, copper collectibles remain the company’s dominant revenue driver, with annual revenue rising modestly from 503 million yuan ($72.9 million) in 2022 to 571 million yuan in 2024, while net profit fell before reaching 78.98 million yuan last year.
Growth has recently tanked amid rising copper prices and an anemic consumer market. In the first three quarters of 2025, revenue climbed 11.3% year-on-year to 448 million yuan, but profit fell nearly 22% to 41.6 million yuan, reflecting rising costs and slowing operating leverage.
Economist Pan Helin said the company operates in a highly cyclical niche that may clash with Hong Kong investors’ preference for scalable long-term growth stories, contributing to the weak debut.
Jiang Han, a senior researcher at Pangoal Institution, a private think tank, described the copper cultural-creative segment as a “small but refined” market worth only about 1.6 billion yuan in 2024, limiting valuation upside even for the category leader.
Tongshifu’s heavy reliance on copper-based products also leaves earnings sensitive to fluctuations in metal prices. Any sustained increase in copper costs could quickly compress margins and amplify pressure on future profitability.
Prospectus data show copper prices climbed from 48.7 yuan per kilogram in 2020 to 80.9 yuan in 2025, representing a compound annual growth rate of about 10.7%.
