*

First Chinese listing in the U.S. since 2021

*

Chinese EV makers looking to boost exports

*

Shares of EV makers have been hit hard of late

(Adds analyst comments in paragraphs 7, 8, 10)

May 10 (Reuters) - Shares of China's Zeekr Intelligent

Technology ( ZK ) were expected to start trading on the New York

Stock Exchange on Friday, after the electric-vehicle maker's

initial public offering was priced at the top end of its

marketed range.

The debut would mark the first major U.S. listing by a

Chinese company since 2021 amid fierce competition in China

between electric-vehicle makers that have hurt their profits -

and as many push to expand outside China.

The share flotation also comes during rising tension between

the world's two biggest economies over trade, intellectual

property, Taiwan and China's stance on the Russia-Ukraine war.

High-flying names in the EV space in the United States have

lost substantial value in recent months, including Tesla

, the leading U.S. EV maker, which has dropped 30% this

year.

Rivian Automotive ( RIVN ) has lost 85% since its IPO in

November 2021, while Lucid Group ( LCID ) is left with a fourth

of what it fetched when it signed a deal with a blank-check firm

earlier that year.

Zeekr, however, upsized its IPO, indicating strong demand

from investors. It sold 21 million American depositary shares

(ADSs) at $21 each to raise $441 million. It had earlier planned

to sell 17.5 million ADSs at a price between $18 and $21 apiece.

Pricing the IPO at the top end might seem odd but it is a

logical move, said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ

Bell.

"Investors might have taken the view that we're just going

through a short-term blip in the market whereby the hype around

EV demand has died down, and we're going through a lull before

the next 'up' phase," he said.

The IPO gives Zeekr a fully diluted valuation, which

includes securities such as options and restricted stock units,

of $5.5 billion at the high end of its targeted range, but still

lower than the $13 billion it fetched after a funding round last

year.

The discount to last year's valuation could also help draw

in investors, Coatsworth added. "They're able to buy into a

growing business at a fraction of last year's valuation.

Everyone loves a perceived bargain."

Zeekr is one of a number of Chinese automakers, including

BYD, SAIC and Great Wall Motor

that have set their sights on Europe, rolling out

electric models as they seek to compete with legacy European

automakers on their own turf.

The number of Chinese companies that have pursued stock

market flotations in the United States in the past few years has

dropped, after Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Global was forced

to delist its shares following a backlash from Chinese

regulators.

Beijing has since softened its stance and released a set of

rules last year to revive such listings, after the U.S.

accounting watchdog and China resolved a longstanding audit

dispute in December 2022.