(Yicai Global) May 29 -- Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding is welcome to list its shares in Hong Kong, according to Chief Executive Charles Li of the special administrative region's bourse.

"We warmly welcome Alibaba's return to Hong Kong for listing," Securities Times cited Li as saying after recent reports that the firm plans to raise USD20 billion by floating its shares in the city. "People who leave their home will inevitably come back one day, as long as we can solve their problems."

Bloomberg reported yesterday that Jack Ma's Alibaba would secretly file a listing application in Hong Kong sometime after June, citing sources familiar with the matter. Alibaba refused to comment.

"We said we would return to China's stock market upon proper conditions the day we went public in the United States," the Hangzhou-based firm said in March 2018 amid speculation it would hold a second listing but this time in its home country.

Its business-to-business arm listed in Hong Kong in November 2007, raising HKD11.6 billion (USD1.5 billion), the largest amount raised by any Chinese internet company at the time. But the unit's share price plummeted in the ensuing global financial crisis and Alibaba opted to delist in 2012.

The firm's holding company is now listed in New York.

Editor: James Boynton