Photo credit: Shutterstock
This week, Alibaba Group joined the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) Stock Connect, which facilitates direct trading of the company’s ordinary shares on two mainland bourses.
In other news, a line of food products from high-tech grocery chain Freshippo launched this week in Australia via a local partner. And Chinese consumers took to Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms to search and pre-order the latest series of phones from Apple.
Alibaba Taps Mainland Investor Pool with HKEX Stock Connect Debut
Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed stock notched steady gains this week following its inclusion in HKEX Stock Connect on Sept. 10.
Stock Connect enables eligible mainland investors to directly trade Alibaba’s shares for the first time via the Shenzhen and Shanghai bourses.
During its first day on the trading link, Alibaba’s Hong Kong share price rose 4.21% and total turnover reached HKD16.85 billion ($2.16 billion), more than quadruple the average daily turnover seen over the past 30 trading days.
Stock Connect accounted for just over half of Tuesday’s total turnover, as mainland investors bought a net HKD8.47 billion worth of Alibaba stock.
The journey to tap this pool of mainland investment started last month when Alibaba upgraded to dual-primary listing status in Hong Kong.
The company’s Hong Kong-listed stock has risen over 10% year to date.
Discover more group-level news
Freshippo Private Label Comes to Australia
The Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, and this year, Australian shoppers will be able to celebrate with Chinese grocery goods from Freshippo’s own brand, which became available this week on online Asian supermarket eBest.
The partnership between Freshippo and eBest will enable delivery of “Freshippo’s commodities to the tables of Chinese in the Southern Hemisphere quickly,” noted Xu Yanni, head of the grocery chain’s overseas business.
Products included in the launch range from Chinese snacks and sauces to soups and beverages, as well as speciality items like congee.
“The rise of multi-ethnic supermarkets is becoming a global phenomenon, and we welcome Freshippo’s arrival in Australia as an important step in that direction,” said eBest’s Chief Operating Officer, Chen Fengze, in a statement.
Earlier this year, Freshippo debuted its private label products in two North American grocery store chains as well as in Singapore.
Hungry for more? Dive into the Freshippo news archives here
iPhone Searches Spike on Taobao and Tmall
Things heated up this week on Alibaba’s Chinese e-commerce platforms ahead of the launch of the latest iPhone.
The iPhone 16 series will be available for pre-order on the Apple Tmall flagship store starting this Friday evening.
Searches for the iPhone 16 jumped 228% on Taobao and Tmall between Sept. 2 and 6 compared to the previous week. The iPhone 16 series even landed on the list of top 10 hot searches on Taobao.
The iPhone 16 family includes four models, which range in size and function from the smaller iPhone 16 to the bigger and more powerful iPhone 16 Plus.
For the first time, Apple’s Tmall store will support an interest-free installment payment scheme over 24 months, making it easier for consumers to purchase the latest phone model.
