This archive report was first published on 18 June 2020.
June 18, 2020 - JD.com, a Chinese e-commerce giant, made a successful debut in Hong Kong, listing on the Nasdaq in New York in 2014. The company opened at HK$239 in early morning trading, a 6% gain from its listing price of HK$226.
The move comes as Chinese companies, particularly those in the tech sector, increasingly opt for listings in Hong Kong over Wall Street due to rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.
Concerns over the transparency and reliability of some Chinese companies have also been heightened following the accounting scandal that led to the collapse of Luckin Coffee Inc.
However, Hong Kong has emerged as a beneficiary of this trend, with NetEase, another Chinese tech giant, raising $2.7 billion in the city earlier this month.
JD.com's Retail Chief Executive Officer Xu Lei expressed confidence in China's economy, stating, "We have come to Hong Kong not just because we want to share our promise and development with more clients... but because we have absolute confidence in China and the future of China's economy."
The dual listing will enable JD.com to better compete with e-commerce rivals, including Amazon and Alibaba, which raised $12.9 billion in a secondary Hong Kong IPO last year.
Despite the city's current recession and political unrest, Hong Kong remains an attractive destination for listings, with Beijing dismissing public anger as a foreign plot and announcing plans to impose an anti-subversion law.
