JD.com shares rise 3.5% in the e-commerce giant's $3.87 billion Hong Kong debut

KEY POINTS

• JD.com shares closed 3.5% higher on the first day of trading in Hong Kong.
• The e-commerce giant priced its shares for the secondary listing at 226.00 Hong Kong dollars each.
• Last year, JD.com rival Alibaba carried out a secondary listing in Hong Kong, followed by gaming firm NetEase earlier this month. 

Several boxes of goods, bought from JD.com, are stacked on the floor.

Zhang Peng | LightRocket | Getty Images

Shares of e-commerce giant JD.com close 3.5% higher on their first day of trading in Hong Kong.

JD.com priced its shares for the secondary listing at 226.00 Hong Kong dollars each. They opened at 239 Hong Kong dollars and ended the day on 234 Hong Kong dollars. 

The Hong Kong listing marks another major Chinese firm which is already listed in the U.S., carrying out fundraising in Hong Kong. JD.com went public on the Nasdaq in 2014.

Last year, JD.com rival Alibaba carried out a secondary listing in Hong Kong, followed by gaming firm NetEase earlier this month. 

The listings come amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China which could impact foreign firms listed on Wall Street. A piece of legislation currently making its way through U.S. Congress will increase the scrutiny on foreign firms and alsot holds the threat of delisting some firms in the U.S. 

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong stock exchange has also been making some reforms to attract technology businesses. 

Charles Li, chief executive officer of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, told CNBC on Wednesday, that there is a "healthy" pipeline of Chinese firms coming to list in Hong Kong. 

JD.com has issued 133,000,000 new Class A ordinary shares as part of its Hong Kong offering. The e-commerce giant said the gross proceeds will total approximately 30.05 billion Hong Kong dollars ($3.87 billion). 

The company plans to use the money raises to "invest in key supply chain based technology initiatives to further enhance customer experience while improving operating efficiency," it said in a statement. "The supply chain based technologies can be applied to the Company's key business operations including retail, logistics, and customer engagement."

JD.com has also given the investment bank underwriting the secondary listing a so-called over-allotment option. That means they can issue up to an additional 19,950,000 new Class A ordinary shares if there is demand, which can be exercised from June 11 until 30 days thereafter.