(Yicai Global) July 26 -- Alibaba Group Holding’s Hong Kong-traded shares surged as much 6.1 percent today after the Chinese e-commerce titan, which is listed in New York and has a secondary listing in Hong Kong, applied to the Hong Kong bourse for dual primary listing status, which would give it access to mainland investors through the Hong Kong stock connect programs.

Alibaba’s Hong Kong shares [HKG:9988] were trading up 5.8 percent at HKD105.40 (USD13.40) as of 1:15 p.m. today. Earlier in the day they hit CNY106.10. Its US stock [NYSE:BABA] closed up 0.45 percent at USD101.06 apiece yesterday.

Dual primary listing status will expand Alibaba’s investor base, especially to include those located on the mainland and other parts of Asia, given that the company operates a great number of businesses in China, the Hangzhou-based company said yesterday.

The e-commerce giant is aiming to be included in the Hong Kong stock connect mechanisms with the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses that allow investors to trade in each other’s markets through their home exchange.

The dual listing, which is expected to come into effect before the end of the year, will also make Alibaba’s US and Hong Kong shares interchangeable. As global investors allocate more of their holdings into Hong Kong, this will inject new liquidity into the special administrative region.

So far, the Hong Kong listing has not provided Alibaba with as much liquidity as the US market. In the six months ended June 30, there was a daily average of USD700 million traded on the Hong Kong bourse compared with USD3.2 billion in New York.

Nine Chinese companies have achieved dual primary listing status in the US and Hong Kong so far, including online real estate agency KE Holdings, electric car startups Xpeng Motors and Li Auto as well as Quora-like question-and-answer website Zhihu.

Editor: Kim Taylor