Shares in Chinese streaming music giant Tencent Music Entertainment are up 7 percent to $13.90 in afternoon trading Thursday, their first day of trade
The company's initial public offering of 82 million shares was priced at $13 a share and is expected to raise between $1.07 billion and $1.23 billion. The stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the "TME" symbol.
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ADDS NAME OF MAN AT LEFT AS GUOMIN XIE - Tao Sang Tong, center, Chairman of Tencent Music Entertainment, and Cussion Kar Shun Pang, right, the company's CEO, and Guomin Xie, the company's Co-President, pose for photos in front of the New York Stock Exchange prior to the Chinese company's IPO, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (AP PhotoMark Lennihan)
ADDS NAME OF MAN AT LEFT AS GUOMIN XIE - Tao Sang Tong, center, Chairman of Tencent Music Entertainment, and Cussion Kar Shun Pang, right, the company's CEO, and Guomin Xie, the company's Co-President, pose for photos in front of the New York Stock Exchange prior to the Chinese company's IPO, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (AP PhotoMark Lennihan)
Tencent Music Entertainment executives and guests attend the opening bell ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange for the Chinese company's IPO, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (AP PhotoMark Lennihan)
Tencent Music Entertainment executives and guests attend the opening bell ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange for the Chinese company's IPO, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (AP PhotoMark Lennihan)
Tencent Music Entertainment employees pose with the QQ Music mascot for a photo in front of the New York Stock Exchange prior to the Chinese company's IPO, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. QQ Music is a streaming app provided by Tencent. (AP PhotoMark Lennihan)
A little more than half of the shares are being offered by the company, with the remainder being offered by shareholders.
ADDS NAME OF MAN AT LEFT AS GUOMIN XIE - Tao Sang Tong, center, Chairman of Tencent Music Entertainment, and Cussion Kar Shun Pang, right, the company's CEO, and Guomin Xie, the company's Co-President, pose for photos in front of the New York Stock Exchange prior to the Chinese company's IPO, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (AP PhotoMark Lennihan)
Tencent said earlier this year it had more than 800 million users, including 23.3 million subscribers to its music library.
Tencent, whose shareholders include the leading music streaming service Spotify, earned $199 million on revenue of $1.66 billion last year.
Spotify went public in April.
Tencent Music Entertainment executives and guests attend the opening bell ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange for the Chinese company's IPO, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (AP PhotoMark Lennihan)
Tencent Music Entertainment executives and guests attend the opening bell ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange for the Chinese company's IPO, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. (AP PhotoMark Lennihan)
Tencent Music Entertainment employees pose with the QQ Music mascot for a photo in front of the New York Stock Exchange prior to the Chinese company's IPO, Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. QQ Music is a streaming app provided by Tencent. (AP PhotoMark Lennihan)
HONG KONG (AP) — Fireworks are typically a celebratory centerpiece of Hong Kong's New Year celebrations. Not this year.
The territory will ring in 2026 without spectacular and colorful explosions in the sky over its iconic Victoria Harbor after a massive fire in November that killed at least 161 people.
The city’s tourism board will instead host a music show Wednesday night featuring soft rock duo Air Supply and other singers in Central, a business district that also is home to the famous nightlife hub Lan Kwai Fong. The facades of eight landmarks will turn into giant countdown clocks presenting a three-minute light show at midnight.
Fireworks have long been part of the city’s celebrations for the New Year, Lunar New Year and National Day. The pyrotechnic displays against Hong Kong’s world-famous skyline of skyscrapers typically draw hundreds of thousands of people including many tourists to both sides of the promenade.
Rosanna Law, the territory's secretary for culture, sports and tourism, acknowledged Tuesday that having no fireworks would affect some hotel and restaurant businesses.
The financial hub’s worst blaze since 1948 broke out at Wang Fuk Court, in the northern suburban district of Tai Po, in late November. The apartment complex was undergoing a monthslong renovation project with buildings covered by bamboo scaffolding and green netting.
Authorities have pointed to the substandard netting and foam boards installed on windows as contributing factors in the fire’s rapid spread. Thousands of affected residents have moved to transitional homes, hotels and youth hostels, struggling to recover from the loss of lives and homes that took them years to buy. The casualties pained many residents across the city.
Past tragedies in Hong Kong have forced similar cancellations of fireworks. They include the 2013 National Day festivities following a vessel collision that killed 39 people on Oct. 1, 2012, and the 2018 Lunar New Year celebration after a bus crash that left 19 dead. During the 2019 anti-government protests and the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple displays also were scrapped.
The origin of fireworks is believed to date to China in the second century B.C., when someone discovered bamboo stalks exploded with loud bangs when thrown into fire, creating the first natural “firecrackers,” according to the American Pyrotechnics Association, a U.S. trade group.
The Guinness World Records organization says the first accurately documented firework, the Chinese firecracker, was created by Li Tian, a monk from China’s Tang dynasty dating to around 618 to 907 C.E. Li discovered that putting gunpowder in enclosed hollow bamboo stems created loud explosions and bound crackers together to create the traditional New Year firecrackers to drive out evil spirits, Guinness said.
People gather at Lan Kwai Fong to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
People attend the New Year countdown event to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
People take selfies at Lan Kwai Fong to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
People pose for photographs at Lan Kwai Fong to celebrate the start of 2026 in the Central district of Hong Kong, on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
FILE - Fireworks explode over Victoria Harbour to celebrate the start of 2025 at Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei, File)
