HONG KONG -- China Tourism Group Duty Free Corporation, which operates the most duty-free shops in China, on Thursday made its trading debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after raising HK$16.2 billion ($2.1 billion) of proceeds in the financial hub's biggest listing so far this year.

The company, already listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, issued some 102.8 million shares and set its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) price at HK$158 ($20.14) per share.

Nine cornerstone investors agree to subscribe to the offering, according to the company's prospectus. Among them, China State-Owned Enterprise Mixed Ownership Reform Fund Co Ltd takes the lead with $150 million, followed by $100 million by cosmetics giant Amorepacific Corp of South Korea.

Established in 1984 and after nearly 40 years of development, the Beijing-based company has become the largest travel retail operator in the world primarily focusing on sales of high-quality duty-free and duty-paid merchandise, according to the prospectus.

The firm said it operates 193 stores, including 184 stores in 100 cities across 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in the Chinese mainland, and nine duty-free stores overseas.

The firm said it benefited from the favorable domestic duty-free policies, which led to increases in both revenue and net profit in 2020 and 2021 despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company reported a revenue of over 67.67 billion yuan ($9.88 billion) in 2021, up 28.67 percent year-on-year.