Chinese electric vehicle start-up Nio Inc's first employee Tianshu LI, and company's leadership team celebrate at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Opening Bell to commemorate the company's initial public offering (IPO) at the NYSE in New York, September 12, 2018.

Chinese electric car company Nio is listing shares on Tesla's home turf and wants to squeeze market share away from Elon Musk and the company in China.

Nio listed its shares Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange, and wants to expand into Europe and the United States, the company's chief financial officer, Louis Hsieh, said.

It has not been an easy journey toward the initial public offering, Hsieh said, partly due to trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Shares of Nio were up slightly Wednesday afternoon.