CRI听力:China's ZTO Express delivers the biggest U.S. IPO of the year

Shares of ZTO Express debuted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at $18.40 on Thursday morning local time, under the ticker ZTO. The price declined through the afternoon trading and ended down by 15.03% at $16.57. The company says it will sell 72.1 million shares under the deal.

Alexandre L. Ibrahim, Head of International Capital Markets with NYSE, expressed excitement over ZTO's market opening.

"We are very excited today to have ZTO to open the market here at the NYSE, this is going to be the largest US IPO this year, so we are very excited with that. And we are very excited to have over two hundred people here, and most of them coming from China, to participate in this historic event."

ZTO's initial offering had priced at $19.50 a share on Wednesday, higher than its previously expected price range of $16.50 to $18.50, which values the company at more than $12 billion. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are the main underwriters.

ZTO says that it intends to use the raised capital to expand its scale, to improve its facilities and infrastructure, and to target at some potential strategic acquisitions in the future.

As to why ZTO has chosen to launch IPO in New York, Lai Meisong, founder and Chairman of ZTO Express, explains.

"We choose to launch our IPO here in the United States because we want to develop ZTO into a world-class logistics service provider, which is actually in line with the developing target of the company. With this move, we also intend to promote our reputation and earn more trust from our potential clients and corporate partners, attract more long-term quality investors, which will accelerate our pace for international business expansion. Also, we would like to show to our overseas counterparts the Chinese mode of express delivery, in the hope that we would introduce to the world in a better way China's express delivery industry and the Chinese market. "

Founded in 2002, the Shangbai-based logistics company has been a major player in China's fast expanding e-commerce market, delivering parcels for Alibaba and JD.com, among others. Currently, ZTO has roughly 7,700 network partners and 74 sorting hubs.

According to its IPO prospectus, the courier raked in some 4.2 billion yuan of revenues in the first half of 2016, a 70 percent year-on-year increase, with a profit rate of nearly 25 percent.

Chinese delivery service sector is leaping forward on the back of a booming e-commerce market, with its players seeking public listing to shore up competitiveness in a vigorously contested market.

Yto Express, one of ZTO's main rivals, went public on Oct. 20 through backdoor listing, with other competitors SF Express, STO Express and Yunda Express preparing for listing.

For CRI, this is Qian Shanming from New York.