The New York Stock Exchange will delist 3 Chinese companies, a "new cold war" according to Beijing
Telecom giant China Mobile is one of three Chinese firms to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange on January 11, 2021. AP - Mark Schiefelbein
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
After a decree signed by Donald Trump last November, the New York Stock Exchange announced on Friday, January 1 that it was going to withdraw from the listing three large Chinese companies in the telecoms sector.
China Mobile, China Telecommunications Corp and China Unicom will first be banned from trading in New York and then delisted on January 11.
These companies are suspected by Washington of working for the Chinese defense sector, and using American money for it.
Publicity
Read more
"This type of abuse of national security and state power to suppress Chinese firms does not respect market rules and violates market logic," a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement quoted. this Saturday by the
official Chinese daily
Global Times
.
China, the ministry said, "
will take the necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the rights and legitimate interests of its businesses
."
For his part, the head of Chinese diplomacy, Wang Yi, accused outgoing President Donald Trump of "
starting a new cold war
".
"
We hope that the next US administration will return to a more rational approach, resume dialogue with China, restore normalcy in bilateral relations and resume cooperation,
" Wang Yi said in an
interview with the New China agency
.
Support for the Chinese army and intelligence
Money is the sinews of war, whether technological or economic.
For Washington, there is no longer any question of allowing Chinese companies to take advantage of American capital to develop when they are controlled by the Chinese state and work for the defense sector, underlines
Olivier Rogez,
of the Economics department of RFI. .
The three telecom giants China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom are rightly suspected of being forced to support Beijing's military-industrial complex and intelligence activities.
They will therefore be literally chased from Wall Street where they could raise funds until now.
Fallback strategy
However, some of these companies had long been listed on the American stock exchange - since 1997 for China Mobile.
The three Chinese state-controlled entities had prepared for the measure and increased their financial presence on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
A fallback strategy also adopted by giants like Alibaba or Baidu, because the Trump decree is not the only measure targeting Chinese companies in the United States.
This fall, US elected officials passed a law strengthening transparency requirements for foreign companies, with the aim of excluding Chinese companies with accounting practices deemed opaque.
Over the past 20 years, 200 Chinese companies have gained access to US financial markets.
They raised nearly $ 2.2 trillion there.
►
To listen: 2020 or the chronicle of an exacerbation of the balance of power?
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
China
United States
Donald trump
On the same subject
Telecoms: the United States reinforces its sanctions against the Chinese giant Huawei
TikTok ban in the United States: the Trump administration strikes back
China: Chinese economy will supplant that of the United States from 2028