The Baidu logo is seen outside the company headquarters in
The Baidu logo is seen outside the company headquarters in Beijing. JADE GAO/Getty Images

Baidu's voluntary conversion from a secondary Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing to full dual-primary status took effect Sept. 1, 2026, giving the city equal legal standing with Nasdaq as the search-and-AI giant's home market for the first time since its 2021 arrival, the company confirmed in an exchange filing.

The stock marker "S," which flagged Baidu's shares as secondary-listed, was removed from both its HKD counter (9888) and RMB counter (89888) with the conversion. Baidu's Class A ordinary shares and Nasdaq-listed ADSs remain fungible, and the company said the move involves no new share issuance or fundraising.

Baidu's board approved pursuing the switch in July, and shareholders signed off at an extraordinary general meeting on Aug. 26. Chief Financial Officer He Haijian has said the goal is a broader investor base and better share liquidity — and, more specifically, eligibility for Stock Connect, the link that lets mainland investors trade Hong Kong stocks directly. Baidu is not yet included; market estimates cited by mainland financial outlets point to the week of Sept. 7 as the earliest realistic date, based on the exchange's standard review cycle following a primary-listing conversion.

The timing lands as Baidu's AI business has become large enough to reshape how the company is read on both exchanges. AI-powered products — cloud infrastructure, AI applications and AI-native marketing tools — accounted for half of Baidu's core "General Business" revenue in the second quarter, the first time that threshold was crossed for two straight quarters, with AI Cloud Infrastructure revenue up 50% year-on-year.

Other Chinese tech names that made the same switch, including Alibaba and Bilibili, later saw mainland "southbound" buying increase sharply after gaining Stock Connect access. Morgan Stanley has estimated Alibaba's own inclusion drew roughly $12 billion in southbound inflows over the following six months — one comparison point for what a similar move could mean for Baidu once the exchange confirms its status.

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