The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has overturned its plan to delist China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom after it announced last week that it was going to kick out the Chinese telecom companies. The exchange stated on Monday that it had consulted regulators and decided that the three firms do not pose a threat, and they can continue trading on the NYSE.
Last week, NYSE announced that it was delisting the Chinese telecom companies in accordance with the stipulations of President Donald Trump’s last November executive order. The executive order restricts American investors from buying or selling shares of Chinese firms that Washington suspects are in one way or the other influenced by the Chinese military and Communist Party.
After the reversal of the initial plans, the exchange also stated that it would, however, keep reviewing how the executive order can affect the companies’ standings with the exchange. The reversal was given late Monday, and just a few hours later, on Tuesday, the shares of the companies increased in Hong Kong. China Unicom’s shares rose by over 6% while the shares of the other two companies rose by over 5%.
China Telecom and China Unicom announced on Tuesday that they were familiar with the development at the NYSE. The companies told the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that they would keep monitoring the situation. The other company, China Mobile, has not given any statement to acknowledge the development, CNN reports.
In response to NYSE’s reversal, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs restated its earlier remark that the Trump administration has been unfair in its dealing with foreign firms listed in the United States. A representative of the ministry, Hua Chunying stated during a Tuesday press release that the ministry hopes that the US will stop the unfair sanctions against foreign companies and “respect the market and rule of law”.
The three telecom companies started trading in the United States many years ago. China Mobile, which is the largest telecom company in China, started trading in the US in 1997 while the other two started trading in the early 2000s.
The executive order becomes effective from January 11, and it would ban Americans from investing in blacklisted Chinese firms that have any connection to the country’s military. Previous investors will be given about 10 months to divest from the blacklisted firms, according to reports.
Washington has launched a blacklisting campaign against Chinese firms, as the tension between the two greatest world economies increase. In the past years, the administration has dealt heavy blows to China’s technological initiatives including its artificial intelligence and telecom sectors.
Source: npr.org
