Alibaba said Wednesday that it has set the price for the offering at 176 Hong Kong dollars ($A33) per share. The price is a 2.9 per cent discount for the closing price for its shares traded in New York. It also is below the original maximum offer price of $188 Hong Kong dollars ($A35).

The company's shares are due to begin trading on November 26.

The secondary listing in Hong Kong is a rare boost for Hong Kong at a time when the former British colony is embroiled in political unrest.

The company's share code, 9988, is a homonym in Chinese for "eternal prosperity".

The company already has a significant cash pile of more than $US30 billion ($A44 billion), but analysts said it was riding the momentum from recent strong earnings, including the $US38.4 billion ($A56.5 billion) in "Singles Day" sales on Nov. 11, up 26 per cent from a year earlier.

Alibaba and rival JD.com reported combined sales of $US70 billion ($A103 billion) during the annual marketing event that has become the world's busiest online shopping day.

"The advantage for Alibaba is twofold. It can diversity its shareholder base during the U.S.-China trade war and it can command a high price, in part because investors in Hong Kong are clamoring for something positive amidst the protests," Jasper Lawler of London Capital Group said in a commentary.

If a "greenshoe" overallotment option is exercised, the proceeds from the offering could be up to $12.9 billion.

But that's well below expectations that initially were for a share offering of up to $20 billion.

The company said it wants to use the proceeds from the share sale for strategies to expand its users, help businesses with "digital transformation, and continue to innovate and invest for the long term".

Australian Associated Press