As economic and political tensions with the United States continue to mount, five Chinese state-owned enterprises, including the oil giant Sinopec and China Life Insurance, announced on Friday that they will delist from the New York Stock Exchange.
These businesses, which also include Aluminium Corporation of China, PetroChina, and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co., have each said that they intend to submit an application to delist their American Depository Shares within the current month.
The listings have a total market value of more than $318 billion. The experts say the majority of trading in the businesses’ shares already occurs in Hong Kong or mainland China.
The U.S. has requested that Chinese firms and auditors make their financial audits accessible for scrutiny every three years. The audit watchdog is the Public Company Accounting and Oversight Board.
These Chinese corporations are listed on multiple markets
The China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement that was released immediately after the delisting announcements that the companies in question had “strictly observed relevant U.S. rules and regulations since listed on the U.S. markets, and the delisting decisions are made out of their business considerations”.
“These companies are listed on multiple markets, and only a small portion of their securities are traded in the U.S. markets. The delisting plan will not jeopardize these companies’ fund-raising ability through domestic and overseas capital markets”, CSRC said.
The Financial Times reported in July that Chinese regulators were evaluating a system for categorizing corporations. The criteria include sensitivity of their data, which might lead to voluntary delistings.
