Stocks expected to spring back to life

In 2012, only two companies from China went public in the US: social media platform YY and flash sales site VIPShop. The situation improved in 2013, with eight Chinese IPOs raising $800 million.

On Dec 11, 2013, vehicle information website Autohome surged more than 75 percent after its $133 million IPO in the US. Autohome joined four other Chinese Internet companies in having a successful IPO in the final two months of 2013.

In the bond market, E-House China Holdings Ltd, China's second-largest online real estate brokerage, announced in December a plan to raise up to $200 million with a convertible bond offering in the US, before scaling it back to $135 million.

Before that, real estate portal SouFun Holdings Ltd raised $350 million through a CB offering. Internet companies Tencent, Sina and Baidu also issued debt.

Lingering doubt

But beneath the surface, concern lingers that the market's latest good run might be short-lived.

Short sellers are still targeting Chinese companies. Mindray Medical, a Chinese medical equipment maker, saw its shares fall 11 percent in the US on Dec 12 after Ottoman Bay Research released a report saying Mindray had overstated revenue, made questionable acquisitions and claimed to have "phantom" facilities that don't exist.

Mindray denied all the accusations and its share price recovered afterward.

China Venture has forecast that mainland IPOs will get a warm reception in the US this year. But it's still too early to predict whether new Chinese IPOs can survive short sellers' attacks and whether a market freeze similar to the one in 2011 will recur.