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HONG KONG (AFP) – Brazil's Vale will make its trading debut in Hong Kong Wednesday, the first South American firm to list on the city's bourse, as the mining giant sets its sights on the massive Chinese market.

Sao Paulo-based Vale, the world's second-biggest mining firm, has said it would list about 652 million common shares and class A preferred shares in the financial hub. The firm is not raising new money.

Vale shares will be traded in the form of Hong Kong-dollar depositary receipts, which mirror the miner's stock, the company said.

The firm, which has a market capitalisation of about 176 billion US dollars, is also traded in Brazil, New York and Paris.

Asia accounted for more than half the company's 23.31 billion US dollars in sales last year, with China responsible for almost 38 percent of turnover and the rest of the continent another 19 percent.

"A secondary listing in Hong Kong is a significant step in raising our profile in, and demonstrating our commitment to, Asia," Vale said in its listing prospectus.

The firm was looking to Asia as the region spends heavily on infrastructure projects, including building new airports and roads, chief financial officer Guilherme Cavalcanti said at a press briefing Sunday.

"This will increase demand a lot for minerals, including iron ore," he said.

Vale, the world's largest iron ore producer, has previously said it would spend 24 billion US dollars starting from next year to finance operations, research and development, and carry out projects.

Cavalcanti said Vale had no plans to raise new money in Hong Kong, but added that there was "always a possibility in the future".

Companies are increasingly looking to Hong Kong as a gateway to the Chinese capital market, with Russian mining giant UC Rusal raising 2.2 billion US dollars in Hong Kong earlier this year.

Rusal was the first Russian company to list on Hong Kong's exchange.

In May, cosmetics group L'Occitane became the first French company to list in Hong Kong, after an initial public offering raised 704 million US dollars to fund an aggressive expansion in China, Japan and other emerging markets.

Hong Kong's bourse is on track to lead the world in initial public offerings in 2010, raising about 51.49 billion US dollars as of Thursday, according to figures from Dealogic.

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