A piece of news yesterday prompted the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to pull up nearly 3% in the afternoon, and rose more than 2% by midday today.

I have to say, the big news released by the HKEx last year was very good, as if it hit KPI a year ago, causing the stock to rise 20% in the past three months.

After the failure of the acquisition of the London Stock Exchange and the listing of Ali Hong Kong shares, the HKEx extended its "claws" to well-known Chinese stocks.

According to Bloomberg, HKEx is understood to be in talks with NetEase, Inc and Trip.com on a secondary listing. HKEx staff have held follow-up talks on secondary listings with two U.S.-listed companies; these discussions are in the early stages and could change at any time, people familiar with the matter said.

It is worth mentioning that HKEx has previously said that there has been a sharp increase in the number of mainland companies consulting on secondary listings.

For the HKEx, the return of US-listed stocks is undoubtedly sending money to generate income, while for large companies, the 20 per cent rise in Ali Hong Kong shares is also enviable.

China-listed stocks are ready to move, and the HKEx is rubbing its hands.

So who is the most likely to return?

According to the secondary listing rules revised by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2018, companies with secondary listings must list on the UK and US markets such as the New York Stock Exchange or the London Stock Exchange and maintain a good compliance record for at least two years, with a market capitalization of not less than HK $40 billion, or a market capitalization of not less than HK $10 billion and recent annual earnings of at least HK $1 billion.

According to institutional statistics, about 30 of the nearly 200 mainland companies currently listed on US stocks meet the criteria at Tuesday's market capitalization. Among them, Chinese stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ with a market capitalization of 40 billion yuan, including Internet giants JD.com and Baidu, Inc., as well as audio-visual websites Bilibili, e-commerce Vipshop Holdings Limited and so on.

The 15 companies with a market capitalization of 10 billion to 40 billion yuan include CNFinance Holdings Limited, a financial technology company, and Taibang Biology, a pharmaceutical stock.

There are many companies that can return, but once they chose to go public in the United States, why should they come back now?

We often say that in the past, the domestic financing environment was limited and it was difficult for companies to raise capital, while loose listing standards and easy access to high valuations in the United States allowed companies to raise more money. By contrast, mainland Chinese stock exchanges have previously required companies applying for listing to make profits for three years in a row, which is too difficult for companies.

However, everything is different now, and Chinese regulators have relaxed rules on the ownership and profitability of Chinese technology companies. At the same time, Hong Kong regulators have also taken corresponding measures, including allowing different rights of the same shares, so that some shareholders have more voting rights per share than other shareholders.

After BABA's return to Hong Kong stocks, the market is looking forward to the secondary listing of more Chinese stocks in Hong Kong. Yao Jiaren, head of the market of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, also confirmed in an interview that there has been a significant increase in the number of inquiries about the secondary listing of Chinese stocks in Hong Kong recently. Baidu, Inc. also released positions related to Hong Kong investor relations on LinkedIn.In response to the willingness of Chinese stocks to return, market participants said that tighter regulation of the US stock market and valuation are two important considerations.

In addition, the successful listing of Ali Hong Kong shares and the event with an average daily turnover of more than 3 billion yuan (equivalent to about half of the "stock king" Tencent in the same period) have also attracted the attention of investors and related companies of Chinese stocks.

For many companies, listing in New York and China is a win-win situation. The company can not only get hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars of additional growth capital, but also drive up valuations in both places.

Zhong Jianghong, the "queen of new shares", said that the new secondary listing rules will help Hong Kong to attract a group of strong companies already listed in the United States to settle in Hong Kong, which are familiar to mainland investors and may lead to more capital inflows into the Hong Kong market. She believes that in the past, most of the second listed companies in Hong Kong were foreign companies, and local investors may feel "not friendly enough" and it is even more difficult to attract mainland investors. In addition, the Hong Kong depositary securities (HDR) model launched in the past is even more difficult to attract buying and selling, thus becoming a product that is "not satisfied with local water and soil" in Hong Kong.On the contrary, if investors are confident in the company's business and profits, and if mainland investors are familiar with the brand, she thinks there is a good chance of success.

Huang Weibang, head of corporate clients at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong, expects more US-listed stocks to return this year in order to raise capital and increase the liquidity of shares. He mentioned that in the past, Hong Kong did not allow companies with the same share but different rights to be listed, so they could only choose to list in the United States. Since the reform of the listing rules of the HKEx in 2018, with more and more listed companies, the market has become more and more familiar with and participated in the valuation and business of New economy enterprises, which will drive more new economy enterprises to list in Hong Kong.

However, no matter how big the opportunity is, there are corresponding risks.

In an interview with the media, Zhong Jianghong said that if the momentum of IPO is good, it will attract similar companies, and it is estimated that some companies will still list in Hong Kong in a similar way this year and next year. However, she pointed out that even if the market capitalization of US-listed stocks meets the requirements, they may not follow BABA's example in real time, first because it takes time to prepare for listing in Hong Kong, and second, because enterprises are cautious about the development of external environmental problems.

PricewaterhouseCoopers pointed out that although the global geopolitical and economic environment is still unstable, such as Brexit, interest rate trends and trade frictions between China and the United States, it has benefited from the successful reform of the listing Ordinance and remains cautiously optimistic about the prospects of Hong Kong listing fund-raising activities this year.

Whether or not Chinese stocks come back in the end, perhaps HKEx is the "biggest winner".