China's Alibaba embarks on landmark U.S. IPO journey

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Alibaba Holdings Inc will seek to raise $1 billion in what could become the largest technology debut in history, the Chinese e-commerce and payments giant said in its IPO filing on Tuesday.

Alibaba, which powers four-fifths of all online commerce conducted in the world's second-largest economy, becomes the largest Chinese corporation to have sought a home on U.S. bourses.

Its IPO has spurred levels of excitement in Silicon Valley and Wall Street circles unseen since Facebook Inc's record-breaking $16 billion coming-out party in 2012.

The proposed IPO size in Tuesday's filing is an estimate for the purpose of calculating exchange registration fees. Analysts expect the company to eventually raise an amount surpassing Facebook's, garnering a market value of more than $160 billion.

(Reporting by Edwin Chan)