NEW YORK: The New York stock exchange has begun the process of listing three Chinese telecoms companies as they try to comply with an order with the Trump administration banning investment in companies with ties to the Chinese military.
It comes as relations between the two largest economies in the world are spinning down over painful points between trade and the coronavirus to Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Trade in China Mobile Communications, China Telecommunications Corp. and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited will end within the next week, subject to transactions being settled, the exchange said in a statement on Friday (January 1) .
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In November, President Donald Trump signed an action order banning Americans from investing in Chinese companies deemed to supply or support Beijing’s military and security equipment. , earning a sharp appeal from China.
The order listed 31 companies he said China was using for “increased ownership” of U.S. investment capital to fund military and intelligence services, including the development and use of weapons of mass destruction.
It was one of a series of action orders and regulatory actions that have focused on China’s economic and military expansion in recent months.
Trump’s order bans U.S. companies and individuals from owning shares in any of the 31 companies, which also include video research firm Hikvision and China Railway Construction Corp.
National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said at the time that the order would stop Americans from secretly providing passive capital to Chinese companies – listed on exchanges around the world – that supports the development of Beijing’s military and intelligence agencies.
Under his “America First” banner, Trump has identified China as the greatest threat to the United States and global democracy, pursuing a trade war with it, obstructing Chinese tech companies, and blaming it. all for pandemic coronavirus infection at the Beijing door.
Other index providers including MSCI Inc, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Nasdaq have removed several Chinese companies from their listings.