HONG KONG, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. made a strong debut on the main board of Hong Kong stock exchange on Tuesday with shares jumping 6.88 percent in the morning session.
Shares started trading at 187 Hong Kong dollars in the morning, 6.25 percent higher than its initial public offering (IPO) price of 176 Hong Kong dollars. By midday close, Alibaba's share price went up to 188.1 Hong Kong dollars.
The Hangzhou-based group has issued 500 million shares plus an over-allotment option of 75 million additional new shares to raise up to 101.2 billion Hong Kong dollars through the IPO.
The IPO has made Alibaba the first overseas issuer to raise funds from the Hong Kong market through a secondary listing, which first debuted in New York in 2014.
It has also become another Hong Kong-listed company that has weighted voting rights structures, following smartphone maker Xiaomi and group buying website Meituan Dianping.
Alibaba CEO Zhang Yong said the "homecoming" listing is an important milestone for the company, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary of founding this year.
Zhang expressed gratitude to the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) for reforms and innovation in recent years that has made Alibaba's Hong Kong IPO possible.
Charles Li, chief executive of the HKEX, said he believed that following Alibaba's Hong Kong listing, more Chinese enterprises listed overseas would return to the Hong Kong market.
Li said he expected Alibaba, together with another Hong Kong-listed new economy giant Tencent, to paint a rosy future for Hong Kong's capital market. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 7.83 Hong Kong dollars)
