Chagee's first store is undergoing final renovations and preparations in downtown Ho Chi Minh City.
Chinese tea chain Chagee filed for a US IPO on Tuesday. If the listing is successful, Chagee will be the first Chinese "new-style tea drink brand" to be listed on the US stock market, and the fifth tea and beverage maker to go public after Nayuki's Tea, Chabaidao, Guming and Mixue Group, which are listed in Hong Kong.
The successive listings of the new tea drink makers reflect the capital market's confidence in China's growing consumption market, an expert said on Wednesday.
Founded in 2017, the company operated a network of 6,440 teahouses as of December 31, 2024, including 6,284 locations in China. Chagee's net revenue surged to 12.41 billion yuan ($1.71 billion) in 2024, up from 4.64 billion yuan the previous year. Net income soared by 213.3 percent to 2.51 billion yuan, according to the company.
The Chinese tea chain intends to utilize the proceeds from its offering to expand its teahouse network both in China and internationally, along with other corporate initiatives, it said.
Chagee's planned IPO came after several Chinese tea drink makers have also been successfully listed.
Mixue Group saw its shares jump 43.21 percent on the first day of trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKSE) on March 3. Another China bubble tea maker, Guming was listed on the HKSE on February 12, the first new listing in Hong Kong at the beginning of the Year of the Snake.
Previously, on June 30, 2021, Nayuki's Tea was officially listed on the HKSE, becoming the world's first publicly listed tea drink brand, followed by Chabaidao on April 23, 2024, according to media reports.
The successive listings of Chinese tea brands reflect the capital market's confidence in China's consumer sector, Tian Yun, a veteran economist, told the Global Times on Wednesday, noting that through the US IPO, Chagee could attract more international investors and lay the foundation for overseas expansion.
Those tea brands meet consumers' pursuit of a quality life through innovative flavors and personalized services, and the younger generation, which is more receptive to new brands, has promoted the rapid development of the domestic industry, Tian said.
A report released by iiMedia Research showed that China's new-style tea drinks market in 2023 hit 333.38 billion yuan, and the market is expected to reach 374.93 billion yuan in 2025.
In recent years, Chinese authorities have introduced various policies and measures to boost the development of the consumer market. China's retail sales, a major indicator of the country's consumption strength, climbed 4 percent year-on-year in the first two months of 2025, official data showed in March.
Global Times
