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By Xie Fang

The stocks of China’s home appliance giant Qingdao Haier started trading on the Germany-based China Europe International Exchange AG (CEINEX), also known as the D-share market,on Wednesday, making Qingdao Haier the first company to be listed in the market, the People’s Daily reported.

As expected, the company successfully issued 304.74 million D-shares during its first trading day to raise a total of 278 million euros (about 317.3 million U.S. dollars).

Haier says in a statement that entering the European capital market is a crucial step for the company’s global strategy. Haier hopes that its IPO in the D-share market could help it diversify its funding sources, improve its capital structure, and broaden its investor base. The company also expects to draw on this opportunity to raise its global profile and propel its expansion in the European home appliance market.

“Qingdao Haier is a company with a global vision and great dreams,” said Chen Han, co-CEO of the CEINEX. “As the first D-share-listed company, Qingdao Haier has found a new path to advance its global strategy by utilizing the European capital market.”

The listing of Qingdao Haier in the D-share market also marks a milestone for the development of the CEINEX since its foundation in 2015 as an important outcome of the 1st China-Germany High level Financial Dialogue held in Berlin that same year.

According to the governments of both countries, the purpose of the D-share market is to strengthen the link between China and Germany in the field of advanced manufacturing, to bolster the development of the real economy in both China and Europe, and to provide more financing channels for the Belt & Road Initiative.