Alibaba Group, China’s largest ecommerce company, said on Sunday that it would pursue an initial public offering in the US, publicly confirming that Hong Kong has lost out on what is expected to rank as one of the world’s largest IPOs.

中国第一大电商企业阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba Group)周日表示，将寻求在美国市场进行首次公开募股(IPO)，由此公开证实香港已失去承接这笔交易的机会。预计阿里巴巴上市将成为全球规模最大的IPO交易之一。

In an emailed statement Alibaba said that it would “commence the process of an initial public offering in the United States”. Listing in the US would make it “a more global company and enhance the company’s transparency,” Alibaba said.

阿里巴巴在一份通过电子邮件发送的公告中称，将“在美国启动首次公开募股程序”。该公司表示，在美国上市将使其成为一家“更加全球化的企业，并提高企业经营的透明度”。

Alibaba had initially sought to list in Hong Kong but fell foul of the city’s listing rules due to the desire of senior management to retain voting control over appointments to its board after a listing.

阿里巴巴最初试图寻求在香港上市，但因与香港的上市规则存在冲突而受挫；阿里巴巴的高级管理层希望在上市后保留对于董事会成员任命的投票控制权。

It publicly abandoned plans to list in Hong Kong last year, suggesting it would look to the US. However, behind the scenes it was still hoping for a rule change that would accommodate its board structure, and had tried, with little success, to rekindle talks with the exchange this year using different lawyers.

阿里巴巴去年公开放弃了在香港上市的计划，并表示将寻求赴美上市。但该公司在私底下仍然希望香港方面能够改变上市规则，适应其董事会结构，并曾于今年尝试通过不同的代理律师重启与香港交易所的商谈，但没有取得什么效果。

Last week, people familiar with the situation told the Financial Times that the company was “95 per cent certain” to list in the US.

据知情人士上周向英国《金融时报》透露，阿里巴巴在美国上市的“确定程度高达95%”。