Alibaba seeks Hong Kong primary listing for Stock Connect access, ‘wider and more diversified investor base’
- The e-commerce giant said that it has received approval from the board to add Hong Kong as another primary listing venue
- The company’s daily average trading volume in Hong Kong was around US$700 million in the first half, compared with US$3.2 billion in New York
Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, is seeking to complete the process to upgrade its Hong Kong stock exchange presence from a secondary listing to a primary listing before the end of the year, the Hangzhou-based company said in a statement.
The decision comes after Alibaba has lost nearly two-thirds of its valuation since its peak in late 2020, partly due to a government regulatory campaign to curb its expansion, including a record US$2.7 billion antitrust fine last year and the last-minute suspension of a mega-IPO for its fintech arm, Ant Group.
The plan to upgrade its listing status in Hong Kong also comes at a time when New York-listed Chinese technology firms are facing delisting risks as US and Chinese regulators remain locked in a dispute over auditing rules.
Alibaba’s plan has already received praise from China’s state media. The Global Times, a tabloid backed by the People’s Daily, said the plan was an endorsement of Hong Kong’s role as a global financial centre and a move to “allow more Chinese investors to share its growth story”.