Baidu completes conversion to dual-primary listing

Chinese tech firm Baidu Inc completed the conversion of its Hong Kong listing to primary status on Tuesday, potentially opening the door for investors from the Chinese mainland to trade its shares through the Stock Connect scheme as early as this month.

Baidu said its voluntary conversion from a secondary to a primary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange took effect on Tuesday, making the company dual-primary listed in Hong Kong and on the Nasdaq Global Select Market in the United States.

The move could broaden the investor base for one of China's most prominent AI companies at a time when Baidu is pouring resources into a full-stack AI strategy spanning chips, cloud computing infrastructure, foundation models and consumer and enterprise applications.