SHANGHAI, Aug 13 — Five US-listed Chinese state-owned companies whose audits are under scrutiny by the US securities regulator said yesterday they would voluntarily delist from the New York Stock Exchange.
The companies did not mention the dispute in their announcements, which come as tensions mounted after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. “These companies have strictly complied with the rules and regulatory requirements of the US capital market since their listing in the US and made the delisting choice for their own business considerations,” the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement.
US-listed shares of China Life Insurance and oil giant Sinopec fell 3.06 per cent and 3.22 per cent respectively yesterday. Aluminium Corporation of China dropped 3.03 per cent, while PetroChina shed 2.80 per cent. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co shed 3.29 per cent. PetroChina said it had never raised follow-on capital from its US listing and its Hong Kong and Shanghai bases “can satisfy the company’s fundraising requirements.” Global fund managers holding US-listed Chinese stocks are steadily shifting towards their Hong Kong-traded peers, even as they remain hopeful the audit dispute will eventually be resolved.