CXMT, the largest memory chip maker in China, saw its shares jump more than 470% on its debut, pushing its market value to roughly 3.3 trillion yuan ($487 billion; £365 billion) and making it the most valuable listed company in mainland China.

The company, founded in 2016 by chairman Zhu Yiming and headquartered in Hefei, Anhui, plans to allocate most of the IPO proceeds to expand memory chip production and increase research and development. The spectacular debut occurred despite a broad sell‑off in technology stocks worldwide this month.

CXMT manufactures dynamic random‑access memory chips used in AI data centers, smartphones and computers. The firm sold 177.9 million American depositary shares at $149 each, and its shares rose as much as 17% on the first day of trading on Nasdaq before easing.

Anna Macdonald, investment strategy director at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the sharp rise was driven by limited supply, noting that only 7% of the shares were available for trading at the open. The bounce also reflects strong domestic appetite for a homegrown chipmaker as Beijing pushes for technology self‑reliance.

The DRAM market is dominated by Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron, which together account for about 90% of global production. CXMT is a key supplier to Nvidia, and its listing comes after Chinese equities lost more than $1.5 trillion, prompting officials to seek measures that could stabilise the market.

The debut highlights the Chinese government's emphasis on developing a domestic semiconductor industry, though the firm still operates in a sector where foreign firms hold the majority of production capacity.