CHINESE electric vehicle startup NIO has hired eight banks for a planned U.S. stock market listing this year worth up to US$2 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

At the top end of the potential offering size, the initial public offering (IPO) would become the biggest Chinese listing in the United States since the US$25-billion public float of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in 2014.

China began promoting electric cars in 2009 and aims to become a dominant global producer as it bids to curb vehicle emissions, boost energy security and promote high-tech industries.

NIO counts Asian tech behemoth Tencent Holdings Ltd. as its main backer, alongside investment firms Hillhouse Capital Group and Sequoia Capital. It seeks fresh capital from the proposed IPO to finance its expansion and investments in areas including autonomous driving and battery technologies.

The other banks hired are Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and UBS, according to the sources.

Founded by Chinese Internet entrepreneur William Li in 2014 and formerly known as NextEV, NIO is among the first of a raft of Chinese electric vehicle firms to launch a production vehicle.

It launched sales of its first mass production car — the ES8 pure-electric, seven-seat sport utility vehicle in December, at about half the price of U.S. peer Tesla’s Model X. It has also vowed to bring an autonomous electric car to the U.S. market by 2020.

Although China’s auto market slowed sharply in 2017, new energy vehicles (NEV) have been a bright spot. An industry body said last month NEV sales would likely grow 40 percent this year, topping 1 million vehicles. China’s finance ministry will also extend a tax rebate on purchases of NEVs until the end of 2020, a boost for hybrid and electric carmakers.

NIO raised more than US$1 billion in November in its latest fundraising round, led by existing investor Tencent, valuing the firm at about US$5 billion.

Its planned IPO could also top that of Chinese logistics company ZTO Express, which in October 2016 raised US$1.41 billion from an IPO in New York.

(SD-Agencies)