In 2008, the company launched YY, a voice-based gaming communications service, which enabled gamers to voice chat over the Internet and text chat in real-time while slaying monsters or coordinating gaming missions.

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Using builder-fronted financing, YY expects to break ground within three months.

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The YY listing is seen as an ice-breaking move to revive the U.S. IPO market for Chinese companies.

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On October 15, YY.com, a Chinese video-based social networking site, filed to list its shares in New York, seeking to thaw the icy conditions.

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David Li, CEO and co-founder of Chinese startup YY, and his venture backers are setting out to see if Wall Street investors can still fall for another publicly traded China tech stock.

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Updated: Attempting to break the frozen China IPO market in the U.S., China-based voice and video chat company YY Inc. priced its initial public offering at the low end of its expected range, but traded up 10% in early trading Wednesday.

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YY, which boasts more than 400 million registered users who engage in real-time group activities like karaoke and tutoring through audio, text and video on the free platform, went public in the U.S. rather than in Hong Kong or Singapore because its platform has "global implications, " Chief Executive David Xueling Li said in New York, through a translator.

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While the majority of his fortune comes from Xiaomi, he also owns minority stakes in a number of Chinese online enterprises, including Hong Kong-listed anti-virus firm Kingsoft, private e-commerce companies Vancl and Lakala, mobile browser provider UC Web, and YY, which hit the Nasdaq exchange last Wednesday.

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