CHINA Mobile Ltd.’s shares will start trading in Shanghai today after the firm raised 48.7 billion yuan (US$7.7 billion) in China’s biggest public share offering in a decade.

China Mobile’s Shanghai debut will be closely watched as an increasing number of companies, including BeiGene Ltd., have fallen below their offering prices on trading debut on domestic bourses.

China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile network operator by total subscribers, sold 845.7 million shares at 57.58 yuan each in Shanghai, the company said in an exchange filing yesterday announcing the debut date.

The company’s Hong Kong-listed shares ended at HK$47.1 (US$6.04) Monday, representing a 33 percent discount to its Shanghai offering price.

The size of China Mobile’s share sale would be expanded to 56 billion yuan if an over-allotment option is fully exercised, making the public offering China’s fifth-biggest on record, according to Refinitiv data.

China Mobile’s smaller rivals, China Telecom and China Unicom, are already listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The three were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after a Trump-era decision to restrict investment in Chinese technology firms, amid continuing tensions between the United States and China.

(SD-Agencies)