China generated an estimated US$12.9 billion in investment banking fees in the first three quarters of 2026, up 7.4% from the same period a year ago, on the back of positive deal flows across equity and debt capital markets.
According to LSEG figures, underwriting fees from equity capital market ( ECM ) deals amounted to US$3 billion, accounting for 23.3% of China’s investment banking fee pool and representing a 40% increase compared with the first three quarters of 2025.
Chinese ECM transactions raised US$159.4 billion during January-September 2026, an increase of 69.9% from US$93.8 billion a year ago and the strongest first three-quarter period since 2021. The number of ECM deals rose 33.7% to 556 year on year, making it the busiest first three-quarter period since 2023.
Chinese issuers raised US$37.8 billion through original initial public offerings ( IPOs ), up 140.8% from US$15.7 billion a year ago, while the number of IPOs increased 40.4% to 198. Both proceeds and number of IPOs reached their highest first three-quarter levels since 2023.
Follow-on offerings reached a five-year high and totalled US$94.4 billion, up 67.8% year on year, while the number of follow-on issues increased 21.4%. Convertible issuance climbed to a four-year high and raised US$27.3 billion, up 24.7% from US$21.9 billion a year ago.
High-tech sector leads ECM
By sector, high-technology led Chinese ECM activity in the first three quarters of 2026 with US$62 billion, accounting for 38.9% of the proceeds, making it the highest first three-quarter total since 2023. CXMT was the biggest IPO so far this year, with proceeds of US$9.84 billion equivalent, according to LSEG. Other high-technology Chinese IPOs during the period included HKC Corporation ( US$1.25 billion ), CanSemi Technology ( US$1.06 billion ) and Shanghai Enflame Technology ( US$910.57 million ).
Industrials ranked second by sector with US$21.2 billion, capturing a 13.3% market share. Materials followed with US$16 billion, up 226.4% from a year ago and representing a market share of 10%. Energy & power totalled US$12.3 billion, up 7.3% from a year ago.
Other significant Chinese ECM deals during the review period included those for Alibaba Group Holding, which raised US$10.21 billion in a follow-on offering in August. Zhongji Innolight and Contemporary Amperex Technology also completed follow-offerings raising US$7.83 billion and US$5 billion in July and April, respectively.
Fees from debt capital markets’ transactions reached US$9.1 billion, up 5% year on year. Primary bond offerings from China-domiciled issuers raised US$3.4 trillion in the first three quarters of 2026, up 4.1% compared to the same period in 2025. Despite a 1.4% decline in the number of bond issues, 2026 recorded the highest first-three-quarter bond totals since records began in 1980.
Government and agencies accounted for 50.3% of total proceeds, raising US$1.7 trillion, up 2.1% year on year. Financials followed with US$1 trillion in bond proceeds, representing a 30.6% market share and an 8.7% increase from a year ago. Industrials raised US$278 billion, up 5% from the same period last year and accounting for 8.2% of total issuance. Several other sectors saw growth compared with the same period in 2025, including real estate, consumer products and services, high technology, media and entertainment, healthcare and telecommunications.
The increases come even as the volume of G3 bond issuance from China fell 24.4% to US$47.6 billion during January-September 2026 from almost US$$63 billion in the same period a year ago.
The decline was offset by the robust issuance in the Dim Sum bond market, which surged 50.8% to US$59.4 billion equivalent from 305 offerings compared with US$39.4 billion equivalent from 292 deals in January-September 2025.
Issuance of Panda bonds, according to LSEG, nearly doubled to almost US$25 billion equivalent from US$12.9 billion equivalent during the same period, driven by lower financing costs and the growing appetite from sovereign and other foreign issuers.
Meanwhile, syndicated lending fees grew 6% year on year to US$357.9 million.
China M&A activity down
M&A activity involving Chinese companies totalled US$274 billion in the first three quarters of 2026, down 10% from a year ago, largely attributable to the absence of megadeals. Last year’s government-led capital infusion transactions boosted prior-year values. Despite the decline in value, the number of announced deals increased 18.1%, the highest first-three-quarter deal count since 2021.
Target China M&A totalled US$249.8 billion, down 9.4% year on year. Domestic M&A fell 10.6% to US$235.8 billion, while inbound M&A went up 17.4% to US$14 billion. Outbound M&A increased 2.2% from a year ago to US$17.9 billion.
High technology was the most active sector, accounting for 24.9% of China-related M&A value at US$68.1 billion, up 69.6% from a year ago. Financials ranked second with US$63 billion ( for a 23% market share ), followed by industrials with US$44.7 billion ( 16.3% market share ), up 36.4% year on year. Materials accounted for 14.5% market share worth US$39.7 billion, down 6.2% from a year ago.
Goldman Sachs topped the China-involvement announced M&A financial adviser league table, advising on US$49.2 billion of announced transactions and capturing an 18% market share. It was followed by Gram Capital, advising with almost US$29 billion worth of transactions, and Morgan Stanley with US$26.7 billion. Based on LSEG data, the completed M&A deals during January-September 2026 included those of Hangzhou DeepSeek AI, which was valued at US$7.5 billion, Shanghai StepFun Intelligent ( US$2.5 billion ) and Voyah Automotive Technology Company ( US$2.4 billion ).
Among investment banks and securities companies, CITIC Securities topped the league table in China investment banking fees in the first three quarters of 2026, generating US$1.2 billion in fees and capturing a 9.5% wallet share. China International Capital Corporation came next with fees amounting to US$794.2 million ( 6.1% ), followed by Guotai Haitong Securities with US$718.4 million ( 5.6% ), China Securities US$611.9 million ( 4.7% ) and Huatai Securities US$522.4 million ( 4% ).
