Chinese Tape Maker Soars 787% in Market Debut as Beijing Moves to Halt New IPO Filings

Chinese tape maker Crown New Materials Technology surged as much as 787% in its market debut Tuesday, creating two billionaires on paper just as Beijing reportedly moved to restrict new IPO filings amid a stock-market slump.

Shares reached 150.58 yuan from their 16.98-yuan IPO price, triggering two trading halts. They closed at 84.55 yuan, still up nearly 398%.

A Tape Maker Creates Two Billionaires

Crown makes industrial adhesives and protective films used in supply chains serving Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA).

The explosive gains turned Crown’s chairman, Mai Michael, a former elementary-school teacher, and his sister, Mai Huixia, into billionaires, with estimated fortunes of $2.5 billion and $2 billion, respectively.

But Crown’s earnings are moving the other way. Revenue rose 11.75% in the first nine months of 2026 while net profit fell 7.89%, according to a company filing.

Ahead of its debut, Crown warned investors against “blindly following the crowd” in speculation on newly listed shares.

Only 9.4% of Crown’s shares were available to trade, leaving investors competing for limited supply. Shen Meng, managing director of Beijing-based investment bank Chanson & Co., told Forbes that conservative IPO pricing and strong investor demand help explain the extraordinary gains.

China’s IPO Frenzy Meets a Market Slump

Crown’s rally is part of a much bigger IPO frenzy. New listings in Shanghai and Shenzhen gained an average 234% on their first trading day in September, according to Chinese brokerage Guotai Haitong Securities.

But established stocks have been struggling. The CSI 300 fell 8.5% in October, while the technology-heavy STAR 50 plunged about 40% in less than four months, wiping out roughly $480 billion, Reuters reported.

The contrast helps explain Beijing’s latest intervention: while investors are piling into new listings, regulators are trying to support shares already on the market.

Beijing Moves to Restrict New IPOs

China’s securities regulator told investment banks Monday to stop submitting new IPO applications, while allowing those already in the pipeline to proceed, the Wall Street Journal reported.

By limiting the supply of new shares, Beijing hopes to support prices of existing stocks. The restrictions could remain until the market recovers, according to the Financial Times.

That could create problems for companies planning to go public, including AI developer DeepSeek, which has reportedly hired CITIC Securities to prepare a listing.

Polymarket traders give DeepSeek just a 3% chance of listing by December 2026, rising to 42% by June 2027.

The recovery of China’s stock market could determine when Beijing reopens the IPO pipeline. U.S. investors can follow the country’s benchmark CSI 300 index through the Xtrackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF (NYSE:ASHR).

Image: Shutterstock