Xpeng shares close flat in Hong Kong debut

Shares of Xpeng finished flat in their debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Wednesday.

The electric vehicle company issued 85.0m Class A ordinary shares, raising $1.8bn.

Xpeng is already listed in the US and debuted in Hong Kong in a secondary listing. It’s share offering is a dual-primary listing meaning that it will now be subject to rules and oversight of both US and Hong Kong regulators.

US-listed Chinese companies have looked to list in Hong Kong as a way to hedge against tensions between China and the United States, reported CNBC on Wednesday.

“I would say our Hong Kong listing is a very strategic decision. In it, I think obviously, you know, hedging against geopolitical risks is only one of the considerations,” Brian Gu, president of Xpeng, told CNBC.

“But in the long run though, we would like to have a listing venue that get us closer to home because we’re a consumer brand in China. Ultimately we want our customers to be our shareholders, and having the dual primary listing status in HK (Hong Kong) will give us eligibility to be connected to Chinese capital markets.”

Chinese regulators are also ramping up their oversight. On Tuesday, Beijing said that it would step up supervision of Chinese companies listed overseas. Authorities are planning to improve rules around cross-border data flows and security.