The head of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange said Alibaba’s decision to sell shares on Wall Street compelled a reappraisal of its listing process to avoid missing out on the next wave of fast-growing Chinese companies seeking initial public offerings.

After months of fierce debate, HKEX will allow companies deemed “innovative” — such as some technology businesses — to list with dual-class share structures from the second half of the year, according to people close to the process.

HKEX chief executive Charles Li said that Chinese technology giant Alibaba’s record-breaking $25bn flotation in 2014 on the New York Stock Exchange, where companies can list with structures in which some shares carry more voting rights than others, made HKEX “reckon with this issue”.