Hong Kong courts Central Asian state firms as listing pipeline grows beyond China

Hong Kong is making a deliberate play for Central Asian capital, and the early results suggest it’s working. Financial Secretary Paul Chan confirmed that several state-owned infrastructure companies from the region are planning to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, part of a broader push to reduce the city’s heavy reliance on mainland Chinese listings.

The most concrete commitment so far comes from Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, the country’s state-owned railway operator, which has announced plans for a Hong Kong listing and an investor roadshow both scheduled for June 2026.

The Samruk-Kazyna pipeline

Behind the KTZ deal sits Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, which oversees roughly $68 billion in assets. The fund has been running a privatization program that could funnel multiple portfolio companies toward international exchanges. Frederick Ma, chairman of Hong Kong’s Trade Development Council, confirmed that at least one enterprise linked to Samruk-Kazyna is expected to list on the HKEX within 2026.

The diplomatic groundwork has been extensive. Chief Executive John Lee led a delegation to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in June 2026 that produced 96 memorandums of understanding: 61 in Kazakhstan and 35 in Uzbekistan.

A proof of concept already exists

Hong Kong doesn’t have to sell this idea purely on promises. In August 2025, Jiaxin International Resources, a tungsten miner, completed a dual listing on the HKEX and raised HK$1.2 billion. Shares surged as much as 178% on their debut.

HKEX CEO Bonnie Chan has described dual and secondary listings by Central Asian firms in infrastructure and mining as an inevitable trend.

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