Nio completes Hong Kong stock debut without raising new funds.

• Nio completed its Hong Kong listing in less than two weeks after plans were announced by using a shortcut.
• Unlike two key rivals that listed last year, the company opted not to raise new capital through a Hong Kong listing.
• Nio, like other U.S.-listed Chinese companies, has added Hong Kong listings to protect against potential delisting due to U.S.-China tensions.

On Thursday, shares of a Chinese electric-vehicle manufacturer began trading on Hong Kong's exchange without raising new funds through a direct listing path.

Nio's shares began trading in Hong Kong less than two weeks after it announced its plan to list, with the stock closing at HK$158.90 on its first day of trading, compared to a close of $20.17 ($HK157.72) for its New York-listed American depositary shares on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, Nio's U.S.-listed shares experienced a 12.2% increase, but they were still down 36.3% year-to-date at the close of trading.

Nio has become the latest U.S.-traded Chinese company to list on Hong Kong's exchange, following in the footsteps of its domestic rivals, and , who listed on the exchange last year. This move is seen as a hedge against the risk of being delisted from U.S. exchanges amid growing tensions between the two countries.

DiDi Global, under government pressure, announced plans to delist from the NYSE in December.

While Xpeng and Li Auto opted for more traditional paths to their Hong Kong listings, raising $2.1 billion and $1.5 billion respectively, Nio didn't feel the need to raise additional cash with its Hong Kong trading debut. Instead, Nio ended the third quarter of 2021 with $7.3 billion in cash on hand and raised an additional $1.7 billion in an at-the-market offering in New York in November.

Nio will release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 earnings after the U.S. markets close on March 24.