(Sept 21): Tencent Music Entertainment Group traded higher in Hong Kong’s exchange on Wednesday (Sept 21), after a listing that didn’t involve selling new shares or raising funds.

The stock traded as high as HK$18.22 (RM10.59) on Wednesday, having started at HK$18 in the Asian city. Two Class A shares in Hong Kong are equivalent to one American depository receipt (ADR) in New York. The ADRs closed at US$4.58 (RM20.91) on Tuesday.

The Shenzhen-based company chose to debut in the Asian financial hub by way of introduction, a quicker and easier route for firms already listed elsewhere. The firm controlled by tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd is part of a growing group of Chinese firms choosing the method to list closer to home as escalating Sino-US tensions fuel delisting risks stateside.

According to terms of the listing, holders of ADRs will have the option to cancel their ADRs and receive equivalent Class A shares in Hong Kong.

Volatile equity markets, high inflation and surging interest rates capped valuations worldwide for companies seeking to go public this year through traditional initial public offerings. As a consequence, there’s been a slump in proceeds raised in venues from New York to London and Hong Kong.

Electric-vehicles producer Nio Inc debuted in Hong Kong in March using the same process, and later began trading in Singapore via the same method. US-listed platform for housing transactions and services KE Holdings Inc and software-as-a-service firm OneConnect Financial Technology Co took the same path earlier this year.

Tencent Music raised some US$1.07 billion through a new share sale in New York about four years ago, with the shares now trading about two-thirds below their listing price.