Hu Huazhi, founder and chairman of Ehang, celebrates with company staff in New York on Thursday evening, Beijing time, as the company becomes the first global autonomous aerial vehicle service provider to be listed in the US stock market. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A listing in the United States stock market would help Chinese drone-maker Ehang to facilitate its global market expansion in the autonomous aerial vehicle sector, according to senior managers of the company.

"The public trading in the US stock market is of great importance for us to expand our presence in the global market – Ehang is not a company simply focusing on the Chinese market but eyeing the global urban air mobility industry," said Hu Huazhi, founder and chairman of Ehang.

Ehang, an autonomous aerial vehicle technology platform company based in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, announced on Thursday evening an initial public offering of 3.2 million American depositary shares, at a public offering price of $12.5 per share.

Under the ticker symbol "EH", the offering is expected to close on Dec 16, subject to customary closing conditions, according to the company.

Morgan Stanley & Co LLC is acting as the sole bookrunner for the offering, while Needham & Company LLC, Tiger Brokers (NZ) Limited and Prime Number Capital LLC are acting as co-managers for the offering.

According to Hu, Ehang is aiming to become an urban air mobility service provider as the company's autonomous aerial vehicles had already been put into commercial use worldwide.

In a recent development, six Ehang 216 autonomous aerial vehicles made their debut flying above the roads in Guangzhou at the end of November.

"We will soon launch the commercial use of AAVs, for sightseeing and carrying passengers, in Guangzhou – the dream of flying will soon become reality," said Hu.

A passenger undertakes a test flight in an autonomous aerial passenger vehicle developed by Chinese drone manufacturer Ehang in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. [Photo/Xinhua]

The company has already reached a cooperation agreement with the local government to build a low-altitude aviation transportation network for AAVs.

"Ehang's AAVs will shuttle passengers in a safe, fast, environmentally friendly, cost-efficient and intelligent way," said Hu.

Driven by commercial use of its latest model Ehang 216, the company's revenue structure had improved steadily in 2019, according to Hu.

"We believe that we will bring a tremendous result in revenue in the near future as urban air mobility is becoming a reality," said Hu.

Apart from wide application in smart city management, aerial shows and logistics, Ehang's backbone business will focus on urban air mobility, according to Hu.

According to Xiong Yifang, co-founder and chief marketing officer of Ehang, the company's AAVs had been sold to Europe, the Middle East, North America and Southeast Asia for use in various commercial sectors.

"We are not relying on one single country's market, but the whole global urban air mobility industry," said Xiong.

According to Liu Jian, Ehang's chief financial officer, funds raised in the US IPO would mainly be used in the expansion of its product output, increasing investment in research and development of AAVs, and sales and marketing expansion.