CHINA’S Twitter-like messaging service Weibo Corp. filed Friday to raise US$500 million via a U.S. initial public offering (IPO), as Chinese companies flock to the American market in record numbers to take advantage of soaring valuations.

    Weibo, owned by Sina Corp., becomes the latest Chinese Internet giant to tap U.S. markets, following on the heels of search service Baidu and its own corporate parent.

    But Weibo warned investors in its Friday IPO filing about uncertainty arising from Chinese government regulation.

    It highlighted in particular a regulation that came into effect in September, under which Internet users who knowingly make or share information considered defamatory or false could face up to three years’ jail time in China.

    “The implementation of this newly promulgated judicial interpretation may have a significant and adverse effect on the traffic of our platform and discourage the creation of user generated content,” the company said in its filing.

    U.S. investors have long shown an appetite for Chinese companies’ stock, hoping to share in some of the spoils of the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

    U.S. markets may see more IPOs from Chinese corporations in 2014 than in any year since 2010. That’s despite long-simmering concerns among investors about Chinese accounting standards, the result of several high-profile auditing scandals in past years.

    Weibo increased ad revenue by 163 percent to US$56 million in the final three months of 2013. Overall revenues leapt almost three-fold to US$188.3 million in 2013, from US$65.9 million in 2012. And its net loss shrank to US$38.1 million in 2013 from US$102.5 million the previous year.

    But its user growth is at risk of tailing off after three years of explosive expansion, as newer messaging apps such as Shenzhen-based Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat draw users away. (SD-Agencies)