Chinese electric car start-up Nio plans to list in Hong Kong on March

BEIJING — U.S.-listed Chinese electric car company Nio is set to offer its shares for trading in Hong Kong on March 10, the start-up announced Monday.

The move comes as regulatory risks grow in the U.S. and China for Chinese companies listed in New York, adding compliance challenges for businesses and investors.

However, unlike many U.S.-listed Chinese stock offerings in Hong Kong, Nio is not raising new funds or issuing new shares in this listing. Instead, the company is “listing by way of introduction,” which means a portion of existing shares will be available for trading in Hong Kong.

Nio plans to offer those shares for trading under the ticker “9866” starting next Thursday, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The Chinese startup said it also applied for a “way of introduction” listing on the main board of the Singapore Stock Exchange. The electric vehicle company said it has no plans to make the Singapore and Hong Kong-listed shares exchangeable.

Chinese companies are increasingly at risk of delisting from New York exchanges as Washington wants to reduce U.S. investors’ exposure to businesses that don’t comply with U.S. audit checks. Beijing has resisted allowing such foreign scrutiny of domestic businesses due to potential release of sensitive information.

In the last year, Beijing has also tightened its control of Chinese businesses’ ability to raise capital overseas with new and forthcoming rules ranging from data security to filing requirements. The new rules come in the wake of Chinese ride-hailing app Didi’s U.S. listing in late June, which drew Beijing’s scrutiny on data and national security.

One of the new rules from the increasingly powerful Cyberspace Administration of China — which took effect Feb. 15 — requires “network platform operators” with personal data on more than one million users to undergo a cybersecurity review.

It’s unclear to what extent the rules apply to secondary listings in Hong Kong.

Nio noted the new rule, among many others, in its filing with the Hong Kong exchange.

Based on legal advice from its advisor Han Kun Law Offices, Nio said the company was “of the view that the Cybersecurity Review Measures will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects.”

As of Monday, “we have not been informed by any PRC governmental authority of any requirement to file for approval for this Listing,” the company said.

On data security, the electric car start-up said it has “qualified for Grade III of China’s Administrative Measures for the Graded Protection of Information Security.”

Grade three is “decently high standard” for most commercial sectors, said Ziyang Fan, head of digital trade at the World Economic Forum. He pointed out Beijing has specific…