State-owned automaker BAIC Motor announced it will be seeking to raise money on the Shanghai bourse, in addition to publically trading in Hong Kong, as the manufacturer aims to broaden fundraising channels in order to fuel greater ambitions in building cleaner and intelligent vehicles.

BAIC has proposed to issue 450 million shares on the Shanghai Securities Exchange, proceeds which will go into expansion and upgrading of production lines, replenishing capital and paying back of bank loans, the Beijing-based automaker said in an announcement on the Hong Kong stock exchange Monday evening.

The decision, which has received assent from the board, is pending regulatory approval. An issue schedule will be decided once it received the official go ahead, though the company added that operations will not be affected if the offering fails to carry through.

This additional listing would potentially “enhance the corporate image of the Company, and further enhance its sustainability and core competitiveness,” the report stated. BAIC’s shares in Hong Kong are eligible for southbound trading by mainland investors through the Hong Kong Stock Connect with Shenzhen and Shanghai. But its car builder, who is the domestic partner in a joint venture with Hyundai and Mercedes Benz in the Chinese mainland, still believes that increased proximity to investors at home would bring a valued channel for raising cash.

The experience of BAIC’s cross listing predecessors backs this confidence. Great Wall Motors, one of the pioneer builders of pick-up trucks that moved to making SUVs, was the first private car enterprises to list overseas when it made a debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2003. It went on to issue more shares on the Shanghai bourse 8 years later in 2011, as did the Chinese carmaker and electric car aspirant BYD, which issued shares on the Shenzhen stock exchange years after an IPO across the Hong Kong border, both doing so during periods of rapid expansion and rewarded with high valuations domestically.