What if America delists Chinese firms?
Jul 27,2021 - Last updated at Jul 27,2021
NEW YORK — Chinese firms are more enthusiastic than most about listing on US stock exchanges. Currently, 250 of them, including companies that are registered in Hong Kong or offshore centres but derive most of their revenue and profits from mainland China, trade on US equity markets. But a recent flurry of official measures in both China and the United States suggests that the two governments are not keen on Chinese firms retaining their US listings. If push comes to shove, how would delisting hurt either country?
The latest controversy concerns the dominant Chinese ride-hailing platform Didi Global (partly owned by Uber), which on June 30 raised $4.4 billion in a successful IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. Within 48 hours, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), citing a suspected data-security breach, announced that it would restrict the company’s ability to sign up new users. The CAC then ordered the removal of Didi from all domestic Chinese app stores, and the State Administration of Market Regulation, the country’s antitrust authority, fined the firm for not obtaining prior approval for earlier mergers and acquisitions.