CHINA’S securities regulator Thursday received an application from smartphone and connected device maker Xiaomi Corp. for its initial share offering (IPO) in China, a filing on the regulator’s website showed Friday.

Bloomberg also quoted sources with knowledge of the matter as saying Friday that Xiaomi has won Hong Kong stock exchange approval for its planned initial public offering, which would be the first listing in the city with weighted voting rights.

The sources said Xiaomi passed its listing hearing Thursday in Hong Kong and plans to start gauging investor demand in the next few days.

Xiaomi was the first to file for a Hong Kong IPO with a weighted voting rights structure after the city’s bourse changed rules in April. It could also become the first firm to issue Chinese depositary receipts, after it picked Citic Securities Co. to handle a planned mainland listing.

Xiaomi is one of the most hotly anticipated Hong Kong deals in years. The company, led by serial entrepreneur Lei Jun, has been considering seeking about US$10 billion from the IPO, people familiar with the matter have said. The offering could become the world’s largest first-time share sale since Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. listed in the United States in 2014.

Xiaomi plans to raise up to 30 percent of its targeted US$10 billion offering by selling shares on the mainland and offer the rest in Hong Kong, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The proposal is under regulatory review, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said on its website. (SD-Agencies)