Shares of the world’s largest battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology rose over 16% in their Hong Kong trading debut on Tuesday, as investors bet on the company’s ability to ride the boom in electronic vehicles.

Shares closed trading at 306.2 Hong Kong dollars on the Hong Kong stock exchange, compared with the initial public offering price of HK$263 per share. 

CATL IPO raised HK$35.7 billion ($4.6 billion) according to a company filing, reportedly making it the largest offering this year globally. CATL shares, which had opened lower on mainland China’s Shenzhen stock exchange, reversed course to end the day up 1.15% at 263 Chinese yuan.

“I think that as the H [Hong Kong] shares continue to perform strongly, that will pull up the A [mainland China] shares,” Neil Beveridge, senior research analyst at Bernstein, told CNBC’s “The China Connection.”

“For the H shares to be trading above the A shares just shows how exceptional the demand is for this company, particularly from global investors,” he added.

CATL said in its Hong Kong filing that 90% of the funds raised will go toward building its upcoming factory in Hungary, aimed at supplying batteries to European automotive clients including Stellantis, BMW and Volkswagen.

“Europe is an exceptionally important market for CATL,” said Beveridge, adding that the company’s growth in China was going to slow over the coming years due to already high sales penetration. “Europe’s only at about 20-25% [sales] penetration, so there’s still a lot of growth there to come,” he added. 

The company’s push into Europe coincided with global expansions from leading Chinese EV makers such as BYD. These efforts also come amid increased scrutiny from the U.S. and EU, which placed punitive tariffs on EVs made in China last year, citing unfair trade practices.

CATL also found itself in the crosshairs of U.S.-China trade earlier this year, with the Pentagon putting it on a watchlist in January over suspected links to China’s military — allegations the company has rejected.

According to Bill Russo, founder and CEO of investment advisory firm Automobility, the watchlist designation, coupled with Trump’s latest tariffs on China, may complicate the company’s U.S.-related business.

However, the impact on its global ambitions will likely be limited unless broader multilateral restrictions follow, as CATL’s core strategy remains focused on markets such as Europe and emerging regions, he said.

In March, CATL posted a 9.7% drop in its 2024 annual revenue, hit by intense competition in China’s EV market that pressured the world’s top battery producer. Still, the company’s net profit went up by 15% year over year.

Demand for EVs in China, a critical market for CATL, gained momentum last year on the back of a combination of subsidies and consumer purchase incentives. EV sales in China surged to 11 million in 2024 — a 40% increase compared to the previous year, data from U.K. research firm Rho Motion showed.

“We’re a big believer and investor in CATL in our global EV strategy. It’s just phenomenal, it’s a ‘must own company,’ in my opinion, along with BYD for investors in the space,” said Brendan Ahern, chief investment officer at KraneShares.

Bank of America, China International Capital Corporation, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase were the joint lead managers for the Hong Kong offering.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia on Tuesday, Andy Maynard, managing director and head of equities at China Renaissance, said that CATL’s IPO shows that investors still look to China to find quality plays despite recent trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.

“This is the world’s largest new stock fundraising event this year, and it also brings the total amount of new stock fundraising in Hong Kong this year to over HK$60 billion, more than 6 times more than the same period last year,” Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan said in a blog post on Sunday, according to a Google translation.

Correction: This story was revised to accurately reflect the jump in shares at market open.