SHANGHAI, Feb 28 (Reuters) - China's Chery Automobile

has applied for an initial public offering in Hong Kong, seeking

funds to develop new vehicles and technologies as well as to

expand in global markets and improve domestic production

facilities.

Its filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange did not detail

the size of the IPO or when a listing might happen.

CICC, Huatai Securities and GF Securities were listed as

joint sponsors.

Chery, China's largest exporter of passenger vehicles in

2023 and 2024, saw net profit jump 59% to 11.3 billion yuan

($1.6 billion) in the first nine months of 2024, according to

the filing.

Revenue surged 68% to 182.2 billion yuan.

Last year it was China's second-biggest car seller after

BYD with 2.5 million vehicles sold, most of which were

gasoline engine cars, industry data shows.

Its main export markets are Russia and Turkey. It also

exports to Cuba and Egypt, according to the filing.

Chery said in the filing that it considers the risk of being

sanctioned by the U.S. for operating in Russia low.

($1 = 7.2870 Chinese yuan)