The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong cleared Chinese search giant Baidu for a secondary listing, the latest mainland company to turn to the territory following restrictions on accessing US capital markets.

South China Morning Post reported Baidu could make the move next week: Bloomberg predicted it to raise more than US$3.5 billion.

The reported move comes four months after a planned dual listing on the Shanghai and Hong Kong exchanges by Alibaba’s financial arm Ant Group was suspended by Chinese authorities over concerns the sale failed to meet regulatory requirements.

Ant Group later reached a deal with authorities to restructure its fintech units to make them subject to the same capital requirements as banks.

Baidu is listed on the Nasdaq.

It reported an 18 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit to CNY5.17 billion (US$797.6 million) in Q4 2020, with revenue up 5 per cent to CNY30.3 billion and expectations of double-digit growth in the current quarter.

In January, Baidu revealed a partnership with Chinese automotive manufacturer Geely involving its Apollo self-driving system.