PC: CNBC

Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, recently received approval from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to list its primary shares on the exchange. This will be Alibaba’s third stock listing; it already has secondary listings in the U.S. and in China’s domestic market.

Alibaba, a major Chinese e-commerce company, is making Hong Kong the “primary” listing location for its shares, enabling direct stock trading between mainland Chinese investors.

According to a filing, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday acknowledged Alibaba’s request to move locally traded shares from their current secondary status to primary listing.

The document stated that it is anticipated to go into effect by the end of 2022.

Alibaba would be qualified for inclusion in a stock connect programme with mainland China if it attained primary status in Hong Kong.

Tuesday morning in Hong Kong trading, the share price briefly increased by more than 2%.

In a filing on Monday, Alibaba stated, “We expect that the Primary Conversion will enable us to expand our investor base and facilitate incremental liquidity, and in particular, expand access to China- and other Asia-based investors.”

The largest IPO at the time, Alibaba went public in 2014 by listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

With a secondary listing in Hong Kong over three years ago, the Chinese internet technology behemoth started to reach out to investors in their own country.

Alibaba recently applied for a dual main listing in Hong Kong by taking advantage of recently modified regulations in that city.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently added Alibaba to a list of Chinese businesses with U.S. listings that risk delisting if they fail to meet audit standards within three years. In order to keep its listings in New York and Hong Kong, Alibaba stated that it will cooperate with regulators.