(Yicai Global) March 17 -- Bilibili’s shares skyrocketed after the Chinese video platform’s board approved a motion to pursue the voluntary conversion to a dual primary listing on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Bilibili [HKG: 9626] ended 16 percent higher at HKD208.40 (USD26.65) today, after earlier soaring as much as 25 percent. Its New York-listed stock [NASDAQ: BILI] shot up almost 48 percent yesterday to close at USD27.83.

Dual listing refers to the listing of a company’s shares on two different bourses, with both capital markets considered as the first listing place. The practice can boost the competition for bid and offer price, attract more liquidity, and increase access to capital.

The board also authorized Bilibili’s senior management to proceed with the relevant preparatory work and undertake the necessary procedures to complete the primary conversion, the Shanghai-based firm said in a statement late yesterday.

Bilibili will remain a dual-listed stock on the HKEX’s main board and Nasdaq Global Select Market, and its Hong Kong shares and American Depositary Shares will continue to be traded on both bourses, it added.

Bilibili listed on the Nasdaq in March 2018 and landed in Hong Kong last March. But since the secondary listing, its shares started declining. In the past six months, the shares traded at both venues have plunged about 70 percent as of yesterday.

A secondary listing is the sale of shares on a secondary market. The shares offered in a secondary listing are those already sold by the company during its initial public offering, and the proceeds from such process are paid to the stockholders who sell the shares, not to the company.

Companies with dual listings in Hong Kong and the United States could be included in the Hong Kong Stock Connect, a mutual access program through which Hong Kong and international investors can trade shares listed in the Chinese mainland via the HKEX, after some rounds of review, enhancing stock liquidity, sources familiar with the situation told The Paper.

Editor: Futura Costaglione