The Pakistan Stock Exchange welcomes the listing of the first Chinese-backed company on June 15, 2026. Photo: Screenshot from China Media Group

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), where a Chinese consortium led by the China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFE) serves as the largest shareholder, has welcomed the listing of the first Chinese-backed company. The debut broke multiple records in Pakistan's capital market and marked a new stage in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) cooperation — shifting from industrial investment to a "industry + capital" dual-engine model, China Media Group (CMG) reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, the listing set several records. The IPO raised approximately $28 million, was oversubscribed 16.7 times, and achieved full subscription in just 5 seconds, setting new highs for both the largest subscription amount and the fastest subscription speed in the history of the PSX.

You Hang, vice president of the CFFE and Chinese director on the PSX Board, said that the IPO represented a milestone in China-Pakistan economic cooperation, which has completed a perfect "closed-loop" — from technology introduction and production localization to eventual integration into the capital market.

Farrukh H. Sabzwari, CEO of the PSX, noted that the listing was the largest financing project in the past two decades. It has injected new vitality into the PSX, boosted market confidence, and created a strong demonstration effect for other companies cooperating with China, according to the CMG report.

The company, Service Long March Tyres Ltd (SLM), is a joint venture between China's Chaoyang Long March Tyre and Pakistan's Servis Group. Prior to the listing, the Chinese side held a stake of about 43 percent, according to stcn.com. The proceeds from the IPO will primarily be used to construct a new passenger car radial tire factory, CMG reported.

SLM is Pakistan's largest producer of all-steel radial tires, commanding 55 percent of the domestic market. It is also a key tire exporter, with products sold to markets including the US and Brazil, stcn.com reported.

Under the framework of the CPEC, China and Pakistan have not only cooperated in physical projects such as infrastructure, energy, and industrial parks, but have also strengthened collaboration in the financial sector, Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

On one hand, this process introduces enterprises with high-quality operational capabilities into Pakistan's capital market, enabling them to generate returns for local investors; on the other hand, it provides Chinese companies with valuable development opportunities, Dong noted, adding that this also represents a concrete achievement in the high-quality development of Chinese capital and industry going global.

"It will open a new avenue for financing for the companies working under the CPEC and bilateral cooperation. They can access capital at a lower rate than from banks or private financial institutions," Shakeel Ahmad Ramay, CEO of the Asian Institute of Eco-civilization Research and Development in Pakistan, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Ramay said that it will also create opportunities for the general public to benefit from CPEC-related investments in Pakistan. "In this way, it will promote common prosperity." 

The active role of the Chinese consortium and IPOs by Chinese companies in Pakistan will build international investors' confidence to invest in the PSX. Thus, it will bring much international investment and pave the way for the internationalization of the PSX, Ramay noted.

Launched in 2013, the CPEC, a flagship project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, is a corridor linking Gwadar Port in Pakistan with Kashgar in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It highlighted energy, transportation, and industrial cooperation in the first phase, while in the new phase, it has expanded into the fields of agriculture and livelihood, among others, according to the Xinhua News Agency.