Wall Street to ditch three Chinese telecom titans after Trump’s blacklisting
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the largest bourse in the world, has started delisting proceedings for three Chinese telecom providers targeted by the Trump administration over their alleged military ties.
After being present on the US market for nearly two decades, the securities of China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom Hong Kong will be suspended from trading between January 7 and January 11, the exchange announced in a statement. While the proceedings are already in progress with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the issuers still can appeal the decision, it added.
Also on rt.com Chinese firms raised almost $12 billion through IPOs on US exchanges this yearThe trio are dominating China’s mobile business and are at the forefront of the 5G networks rollout in the country. However, they do not have a significant presence in the US stock market, according to Bloomberg. All of them are listed on the Hong Kong exchange, which has been competing with Wall Street for IPOs.
The NYSE cited an executive order issued by the Trump administration that barred US investors from investing in firms it claims are affiliated with the Chinese military. For the same reason, some securities of other Chinese corporations mainly involved in manufacturing and construction were dropped from indexes on Nasdaq and from those compiled by MSCI, S&P Dow Jones Global Indices and British FTSE Russell.
The move, even by such a major stock exchange, is not expected to become a significant blow for the three firms, with Beijing earlier saying that de-listings will not stop foreign investment inflows to its companies.
Despite inking the first phase of their trade deal a year ago, tensions between the US and China kept escalating in 2020. The order, cited by index providers and the NYSE, was signed by US President Donald Trump in November. The document barred US investors from funding more than 30 Chinese firms it deemed “Communist Chinese military companies.”
Beijing had previously called on Washington to stop the arbitrary suppression of investments into Chinese businesses. It also said the US government had been “viciously slandering” China’s military-civilian integration, and vowed to protect the interests of its companies.
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