(Yicai) Nov. 27 -- The fundraising amount of companies that listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the first 10 months of the year is close to the total in the past three years.

Eighty-one firms listed on the HKEX in the 10 months ended Oct. 31, raising a total of HKD216 billion (USD27.8 billion). More than half of them were secondary listings from 14 companies already listed in the Chinese mainland.

In comparison, the proceeds of listings on the Hong Kong bourse between 2022 and 2024 totaled HKD274.4 billion.

The surge in Hong Kong listings this year was mainly due to three factors, Lin Xiaoling, audit partner at Grant Thornton Shanghai, told Yicai. The first is the spillover effect of new policies for initial public offerings in the Chinese mainland, as long waiting periods and stricter reviews have forced some firms to turn to Hong Kong for more efficient fundraising and faster procedures.

The second reason is the risk-averse demand from Chinese companies listed overseas seeking to return to Hong Kong, Lin noted. The third is the concentration of large transactions, which has boosted the overall fundraising scale.

The collaboration between regulators has also improved, according to Lin. On Nov. 21, China's finance ministry and securities watchdog jointly issued a notice to update and adjust the list of accounting firms for Hong Kong-listed firms.

Moreover, Hong Kong has optimized its listing rules for specialized technology companies, allowing unprofitable advanced manufacturing and green technology firms to go public. It also simplified its dual primary listing mechanism.

Another reason behind the influx of companies listing in Hong Kong is that the valuation of Hong Kong stocks has increased in comparison to Chinese mainland stocks.

The Hang Seng Stock Connect China AH Premium Index, which measures the absolute price premium or discount of Chinese mainland shares over Hong Kong shares, plunged nearly 23 percent to 115.44 points in October from 149.88 points at the end of last year, indicating that the premium of Chinese mainland shares over Hong Kong shares has narrowed.

Dual listings in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland can be the preferred choice for optimizing financing structures and enhancing internationalization, Li believes.

Coupled with expectations for a continuous improvement of the liquidity of Hong Kong-listed shares and the strengthening of Hong Kong's status as an international financial center, the trend of Hong Kong and Chinese mainland dual listings will persist, Lin predicted.

Editor: Futura Costaglione