China's e-commerce company starts trading in HK

China's biggest online retailer JD.com made its debut on the Hong Kong market on Thursday.

JD.com, which is already listed on the NASDAQ in New York, opened at $239 Hong Kong dollars ($30.83 US dollars) per share on Thursday, up from its offer price of $226 Hong Kong dollars ($29.16 US dollars).

The debut comes during escalating tension between China and the United States and political unrest in semi-autonomous Hong Kong.

A listing ceremony is held in the morning at JD's headquarter in Beijing with the participants of executives of JD.com, including Xu Lei, CEO of JD.com retail. .

JD.com's Hong Kong debut coincides with its annual "618" sale, or June 18 online shopping extravaganza, the first major e-commerce festival to be held in China since the coronavirus pandemic started.

As of Thursday afternoon, JD.com said it had sales tallied over $33 billion (US dollars) in transactions.

During a group interview, Xu said JD.com Retail has seen growth in fresh produce but drop in home appliances sales and social products due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Because of the social distancing, the consumption of this category is restrained," said Xu.

JD.com last month reported an increase of 38.2% from the first quarter of 2019. Xu thought the impact on the company "was just a matter of time".