Chinese Tesla Challenger Rises On HK Debut

Shares in electric carmaker XPeng debuted in Hong Kong on Wednesday, as Chinese-based firms trading in the United States seek to avoid the glare of Beijing's regulators by listing closer to home.

XPeng, which is already Nasdaq-listed and is chasing Tesla in China, is the latest Chinese company to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange, following other big tech firms such as video platform Bilibili and search giant Baidu.

The Guangzhou-headquartered car maker raised HK$14 billion (US$1.8 billion) in its initial public offering ahead of the start of trade in Hong Kong on Wednesday, selling 85 million shares at HK$165 (US$21.20) each.

Its shares traded around 1.8 percent higher on opening.

The IPO comes as Chinese companies face pressure to list closer to home, and shortly after ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing attracted scrutiny over data security when it listed abroad.

Bloomberg News has reported that two other US-listed Chinese electric car makers – Nio and Li Auto – are also aiming to list in Hong Kong.

China is the world's largest car market and Beijing expects new energy vehicles to comprise 25 percent of car sales by 2025.

In fiscal year 2020, the Tesla-challenger delivered more than 27,000 vehicles. (AFP)