Alibaba to seek primary listing in Hong Kong, adding to NYSE

HONG KONG (AP) — Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce company, said Tuesday that it would apply for a primary listing in Hong Kong.

The listing is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, which would make Alibaba a dual-primary listed company on the New York Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

CEO Daniel Zhang said they were pursuing another primary listing venue to foster a “wider and more diversified investor base.”

“Hong Kong and New York are both major global financial centers, with shared characteristics of openness and diversity,” Zhang said in a statement. “Hong Kong is also the launch pad for Alibaba’s globalization strategy, and we are fully confident in China’s economy and future.”

Alibaba went public in New York in September 2014 and completed a secondary listing in Hong Kong in November 2019.

It was once the darling of many technology stock investors, but its stock price has plummeted following Beijing’s regulatory crackdown on China’s technology industry.

In the past year, their New York stock price has plunged 47%. Ahead of the announcement, its stock price closed at $101.06 Monday.