Dada Group, China's leading local on-demand delivery and retail platform, began trading at the Nasdaq Stock Market on Friday under the ticker symbol "DADA" following its initial public offering.

The company announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 20 million American depositary shares (ADSs), each representing four of its ordinary shares, at $16 per ADS for total gross proceeds of $320 million.

It held a special listing day event at Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in China and the second-tallest in the world, to commemorate this corporate milestone. Seven members of Dada's management team participated in a virtual bell ringing ceremony at the opening of the Nasdaq Stock Market in New York.

Philip Kuai, founder, chairman and CEO of Dada Group, said: "Since day one, our goal has been to bring people everything on demand, and as we have expanded our business, our goal has remained the same."

"Now, just days from the company's sixth birthday, we have taken a significant step forward in our ability to boost the innovation revolution in China's retail industry and offer a more efficient and convenient shopping experience for our customers," he added.

Established in 2014, Dada Group operates JD Daojia, one of China's largest local on-demand retail platforms by gross merchandise value in 2019, and Dada Now, a leading local on-demand delivery platform in China by number of orders in 2019.

In 2016, the company established a cooperative relationship with Chinese e-commerce heavyweight JD and US retail giant Walmart. The two companies have also become one of its strategic investors.

It intends to use the net proceeds of this offering to expand business operations including implementing its marketing initiatives and developing the user base, investing in technology and research as well as general corporate purposes.

There was an increase in demand for Dada's services during the COVID-19 outbreak as more and more people shopped for daily necessities online, such as groceries, fresh produce, healthcare and household products.