(Bloomberg) -- Mainland Chinese investors flocked to Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as its Hong Kong-listed stock was made directly available to them for the first time.

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Investors bought HK$8.5 billion ($1.1 billion) worth of Alibaba shares through the Stock Connect program on the first day, on a net basis, according to stock exchange data released late Tuesday. Purchases via the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses accounted for about half of the day’s turnover in the stock.

Alibaba shares closed the day 4.2% higher in Hong Kong on the back of the additional flow, making it one of the day’s best-performing stocks on the Hang Seng Index. It was little changed in early trading Wednesday.

The upward trend is expected to continue at least in the short term. Blooomberg Intelligence estimates that the fund inflows to Alibaba from China will reach $20 billion into next year, making mainland investors owners of about a 10% stake in the stock.

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