* Zoomlion closes at day's high after $1.7 bln IPO
* HK IPO proceeds top $50 bln for 2010, leads world
* About 100 companies listed in Hong Kong this year
* Mixed performance from recent debuts as mkt struggles (Adds details, closing price in para 3-4)
By Jimmy Tsim and Clare Jim
HONG KONG, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Shares of China's Zoomlion , which makes and leases heavy industrial equipment, rose 8 percent in its Hong Kong debut as investors chased its exposure to China's big infrastructure spending.
The $1.7 billion initial public offering of Changsha Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co Ltd caps a stellar year for Hong Kong IPOs, boosting total proceeds above $50 billion. That is the highest volume by far globally and more than double last year's total for the exchange, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Zoomlion, the fifth largest listing in Hong Kong this year, braved a sagging stock market and some uncertainty over new issues to list at a time when many investors are holding money as the year winds down.
"When market conditions are not favourable, large-sized IPOs are usually easier to catch the attention of fund managers, especially mid-sized funds," Dickie Wong, research director of Kingston Securities.
"Changsha Zoomlion, being the tenth largest heavy machinery producer in the world and the second largest in China, also benefits from the concept of China's twelfth five year plan," for boosting infrastructure investment, he added.
Details of Beijing's twelfth five-year plan have not been officially announced, but China has been spending billions of dollars to boost the countrys infrastructure, expanding rail and road networks and upgrading ports, which will benefit companies like Zoomlion.
Since mid-November, the Hong Kong market has dropped almost 8 percent, hit by market jitters from across the globe, and from an end-of-year pullback by investors.
Zoomlion, the most actively traded stock on the Hong Kong exchange on Thursday, opened at HK$15.26 and ended at its intraday high of HK$16.2, 8 percent above its IPO price.
It set its IPO price at HK$14.98 per share, selling 869.6 million shares at the low end of its indicated range.
Zoomlion's Shenzhen-listed shares were down 2 percent at 14.12 yuan.
IPOS MIXED IN RECENT WEEKS
In total, about 100 companies listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, with AIA Group Ltd , Agricultural Bank of China and Russia's UC Rusal among the biggest.
Zoomlion's debut has so far fared better than many companies in December, such as Datang Corp Renewable Power and Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank that fell by the close on the first day of trade.
But Zoomlion still paled in comparison with some newly listed companies Goodbaby International , which ended 18 percent higher on its first day of trade in November. Sihuan Pharmaceutical finished 25 percent higher during its debut in October.
A slew of companies including Huaneng Renewables Corp and terminal service producer Dragon Crown have scrapped their IPOs over the past month or so.
Zoomlion's listing is symbolic, in some ways, of Hong Kong's IPO market dominance in the last few years. It is a large Chinese company looking for additional sources of capital to fund growth.
These types of Chinese companies, a large chunk of them in real estate and financial services, have made up the bulk of a long list of IPO candidates here since the market re-opened in early 2009.
Greater China is expected to retain its dominance as the most active IPO market in 2011, with a number of regional banks expected to sell shares and some big international companies eyeing China listings. (Additional reporting by Lee Chyen Yee and Nishant Kumar; Writing by Michael Flaherty; Editing by Lincoln Feast)