Illustration of Hong Kong as a ipo pipeline and crypto lab for China

Hong Kong: China’s IPO pipeline and crypto lab

Companies raised $13.6 billion through Hong Kong IPOs in the first half of the year, giving the city the global fundraising title for that period. What's behind the sudden boom? And a growing number of Chinese companies are experimenting with cryptocurrencies in Hong Kong, even as such currencies are banned on the Mainland. What's driving such different approaches on the Mainland and in Hong Kong?

PODCAST: A Bubble Tea IPO Freeze, and a Revenue-less Drug Maker

China's securities regulator puts the brakes on new bubble tea IPOs in Hong Kong. Is this China's latest step to assert its authority over the former British colony? And former drug making highflyer Ascletis has become revenue-less after its earlier drugs fizzled. Now the company is hoping to revive its fortunes with a new weight-loss drug from the same class as Ozempic.