Ten years ago, when Changxin was founded, China had not yet claimed a single inch of territory on the global DRAM map.
Ten years later, Changxin Technology landed on the STAR Market, becoming the company with the highest market capitalization on the A-share market.
As the bell rang, the heroes of the old days all stepped forward.
The investors behind the scenes all reaped their single largest return to date. The Hefei state-owned capital, having bet right, earned trillions, a feat that will go down in history.
Yet Tencent has rarely been mentioned by the outside world: having invested around 2 billion yuan, its paper profit amounts to approximately 50 billion yuan based on today's market capitalization of 4 trillion yuan.
From Tencent to Alibaba, Accompanying Changxin Past 4 Trillion
Tencent entered the picture at Changxin in 2022.
In February of that year, Changxin's shareholder list saw changes, with a group of institutions including Tencent, Alibaba, and Yunfeng Fund appearing simultaneously.
Tencent's investment vehicle was Beijing Fengyi. The prospectus disclosed that Beijing Fengyi held 901 million shares of Changxin Technology, representing a 1.50% stake before the IPO issuance, diluted to 1.35% after the issuance of new shares.
At that time, Changxin was still nearly three years away from mass-producing its first domestic DRAM chip and had not yet emerged from a period of massive investment. In the first full year disclosed after Tencent's investment, 2023, Changxin's revenue was about 9 billion yuan, while its net loss reached 19.2 billion yuan.
There were no profits, nor a clear timeline for going public, but Tencent still invested 2 billion yuan.
Four years later, Changxin went public on the STAR Market. Based on the market capitalization of approximately 4 trillion yuan as of August 17th, Tencent's paper profit reached 50 billion yuan.
Alibaba was also part of that round. The prospectus disclosed that Alibaba Network invested approximately 1.5 billion yuan to subscribe for new shares, obtaining about 676 million shares of Changxin Technology.
Three years later, the Alibaba system made another move.
In June 2025, Changxin completed its final pre-IPO financing round. Alibaba Cloud invested 6.1 billion yuan at a price of 2.6302 yuan per share, acquiring 2.319 billion shares.
With these two bets, the Alibaba system invested a total of about 7.6 billion yuan, holding 2.995 billion shares of Changxin. After dilution from the IPO issuance of new shares, Alibaba Cloud and Alibaba Network held 3.47% and 1.01% respectively, for a combined stake of approximately 4.48%.
Calculated based on Changxin's market cap of 4 trillion yuan, this shareholding is worth about 170 billion yuan, representing an astounding paper profit.
What does this number mean? Alibaba's net profit for fiscal year 2026 was 102.1 billion yuan. In other words, the paper profit from this single investment in Changxin alone is equivalent to more than a year's net profit for Alibaba.
Joy and Regret
Opening Changxin's shareholder register reveals a vivid portrait of China's capital landscape.
A partner at a well-known domestic industrial capital firm once revealed to investors that when Changxin Technology was preparing for a certain financing round, there were 220 investment institutions queuing up to get in. They had to conduct three reverse roadshows and then select just over 10 potential investors for further consideration, setting a high bar.
The group portrait unfolds one by one.
Post-IPO, the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase II holds 7.86%, Anhui Provincial Investment Group holds 7.12%, and China Structural Reform Fund holds 1.01%. At 49 yuan per share, their combined shareholding value exceeds 520 billion yuan.
Even earlier, Hefei state-owned capital had been deeply involved in Changxin's construction through multiple platforms. From project landing and factory construction to successive rounds of capital increases, Hefei built the city, fortified the walls, and supplied the provisions for Changxin. Without this city's unwavering bet over the years, the later story of a trillion-yuan market cap would have been impossible.
Among industrial investors, GigaDevice is another major backer.
As a leading storage design company also led by Zhu Yiming, GigaDevice has deep ties with Changxin. In 2020, GigaDevice invested 300 million yuan in Hefei Changxin Integrated via convertible bonds. In 2021, it invested 500 million yuan in Ruili Integration. In 2024, it participated in Changxin Technology's capital increase with 1.5 billion yuan. Summing these principal investments simply totals about 2.3 billion yuan.
Calculated at the closing price of 49 yuan per share on July 27, 2026, the first day of listing, this shareholding is worth about 53 billion yuan.
In 2021, Midea invested approximately 1 billion yuan in Changxin. Post-IPO, Midea holds a 0.67% stake, corresponding to a market value of about 22 billion yuan.
Bank-affiliated capital has almost all shown up, and the insurance capital camp is also well represented. RMB funds are crowded—National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund Phase II, China Structural Reform Fund, CICC Capital, Cornerstone Capital, Legend Capital, Yanchuang Venture Capital, China Merchants Capital, Walden International, Qianhai FOF, Shenzhen Investment Holdings, CCB International, Yunfeng Fund, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Fund, CCB Trust, China Life Investment, Hengxu Capital, Wan Investment Group, Junhe Capital, Orient Asset Management, Hexie Health, Sunshine Insurance, Guangzhou Xinde, Lanpu Investment, Xinke Venture Capital, Huafu Jiaye, Advantage Capital, New Ding Capital, Gaoxin Capital, Pro Capital...
In this feast, if there is one story that evokes the deepest regret, it must be Country Garden.
In 2021, Country Garden Venture Capital invested about 900 million yuan to acquire a stake in Changxin. At the end of 2024, Huibi V, under Country Garden, transferred its 901 million Changxin shares to Hefei Jianchang for a transaction price of 2 billion yuan.
For the same 901 million shares, based on Changxin's closing price of 49 yuan per share on its first trading day, the value is about 44 billion yuan.
Some entered the city on a cold night; some left the table before dawn. Country Garden took away 2 billion yuan, solving its predicament at that time.
The curtain fall of the real estate cycle and the rise of the semiconductor cycle happened to intersect at this juncture.
A matter of timing, a matter of fate.
This article is from the WeChat public account "投资界" (ID: pedaily2012), author: Chen Jia
