- The DRAM leader’s record-speed inclusion highlights global investors’ rising appetite for China’s semiconductor champions
- A $470 billion memory chip giant enters the MSCI universe as China’s bid to reshape the DRAM market gains momentum
CXMT (长鑫存储), China’s leading DRAM maker, was officially added to the MSCI China All Shares Index on August 10, just 14 days after its debut on the Shanghai STAR Market — marking one of the fastest inclusions of a Chinese IPO into an MSCI benchmark.
Under MSCI’s “large-cap IPO fast inclusion” rules, newly listed companies that meet certain market capitalization and free-float requirements can be added within 10 trading days instead of waiting for a regular index review.
MSCI announced on July 28 that CXMT had met the eligibility criteria, with the inclusion taking effect on August 10.
As of press time, CXMT shares trade at around 53 yuan ($7.86), giving the company a market capitalization of roughly 3.5 trillion yuan. It remained the largest listed company in China by market value.
Joining the MSCI China All Shares Index will place CXMT in the investment universe tracked by global funds following MSCI benchmarks, potentially attracting additional passive capital flows.
Foreign investors had already begun positioning for CXMT’s global rise. On the first trading day after its IPO, U.S.-based Tema ETF added CXMT to its semiconductor-focused DISK fund, assigning it a 10.56% portfolio weight and making it one of the fund’s top holdings.
Tema Chief Investment Officer Yuri Khodjamirian said CXMT has “a unique position among the world’s leading memory manufacturers” and is well positioned to serve China’s rapidly expanding AI ecosystem.
Roundhill’s Memory ETF (DRAM), which manages more than $23 billion in assets, has also added CXMT with a 4.51% weighting.
Global asset manager VanEck said it could include CXMT in its global semiconductor ETF as early as September.
A new global benchmark
CXMT’s MSCI inclusion represents more than a potential influx of passive investment.
The MSCI China All Shares Index covers Chinese companies listed across mainland China, Hong Kong and U.S. markets, making it one of the key benchmarks used by international investors to allocate capital to Chinese equities.
The company’s rapid transition from IPO to global index inclusion reflects a broader shift in how international investors view Chinese technology companies — moving beyond traditional economic leaders toward strategically important hardware and semiconductor innovators.
For global investors, CXMT’s MSCI inclusion signals that China’s memory chip industry is becoming part of the global semiconductor investment landscape.
UBS estimates that CXMT’s share of the global DRAM market could rise from around 7% in 2025 to about 10% by 2028, while its share of China’s server DRAM market could increase from roughly 12% to 20%.
As CXMT is potentially added to more domestic benchmark indexes, including the STAR 50 and STAR-ChiNext 50 indexes, the company could attract additional large-scale passive investment.
For the global DRAM industry, the emergence of a Chinese memory chip company with a market capitalization exceeding 3 trillion yuan marks a new chapter in a market long dominated by Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron.
