The proposed $100bn float of Xiaomi should excite Lei Jun, founder of the Beijing-based smartphone maker. Investors in Citic Securities may benefit, too. Press reports moot its subsidiary CLSA as a sponsor to the initial public offering. Citic shares have risen 10 per cent in the two days since. An expected IPO boom bodes well for brokerage companies more broadly.

Analysts at Nomura expect IPO volumes to increase 10 per cent to Rmb265bn ($41bn). Citic and Guangfa Securities have the largest IPO pipelines with at least twice the number of deals of third-ranked group Orient Securities, as of November.

Regulatory tightening is putting the squeeze on secondary refinancings. But the impact is softened by the fact that fees on these deals are less than a fifth of commissions on IPOs in percentage terms. Even cutting the secondaries business by half would at most reduce sector revenues by 3 per cent.