Washington backtracks on delisting Chinese companies from the US stock exchange

Washington and Beijing agreed in principle to allow US officials to review the accounting documents of Chinese companies whose shares trade in the United States, in a first step to avoid delisting the shares of about 200 companies from the New York Stock Exchange.
And Bloomberg quoted, today, Friday, data from the Chinese and US authorities, that “China will allow, under the agreement, the inspectors of the US Public Company Accounts Oversight Board to access the accounting audit papers and accountants who have audited Chinese companies.”

The data added that the US inspectors will arrive in China to start their work by mid-September.

The long-running dispute over the accounting audit has become a focal point in the US-Chinese disputes since the issuance of a US law in 2020 requiring the delisting of companies that do not audit their accounts from the US stock exchange.

Five Chinese companies, including the two largest oil groups in the country, announced before mid-August their withdrawal from the New York Stock Exchange.

Sinopec and PetroChina said in separate statements that they would apply for a “voluntary withdrawal” from the US stock market.

Similar announcements were also made for the Chinese aluminum company Chalco, China Life, and a branch of Sinopec in Shanghai.