Didi’s one-sentence announcement gave no explanation, but share prices of Didi and other tech companies including e-commerce giant Alibaba Group have sunk after they were hit by data-security and anti-monopoly crackdowns.
“After conscientious research, the company will start delisting operations on the New York Stock Exchange immediately and commence preparations to list in Hong Kong,” Didi said on its social media account. The ruling party sees information gathered about China’s public and economy by e-commerce, social media and other private companies as a valuable asset and a security risk.
Chinese companies have been selling shares abroad for two decades but regulators have yet to say whether the financial structures they use comply with rules that ban foreign ownership of internet companies and limit access to other industries.