Washington (AFP)
The US administration is examining the possibility of prohibiting Americans from investing in Chinese giants Alibaba and Tencent, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday.
This blacklisting would mean removing two of the largest listed Chinese groups from the US listing, in line with the latest measures already announced, including three Chinese telecommunications companies from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
According to the business newspaper, representatives from the State and Defense Department discussed with Treasury officials the possibility of expanding the blacklist of Chinese companies suspected of links with the Chinese military complex to include giants of the Alibaba e-commerce and Tencent internet.
The two groups, whose cumulative capitalization exceeds one trillion dollars, are listed on Wall Street in the form of "ADR", American Depositary Shares, securities allocated to foreign companies wishing to access Wall Street.
Alibaba stock lost 5.32% at the close in New York on Wednesday and Tencent almost 4%.
This decision, which is still under debate according to the daily, would constitute a new episode in President Donald Trump's crusade against Chinese tech, embodied by the presidential decree of November 12 banning transactions in companies accused of being involved in the development of the Chinese military complex.
Other targets have already been targeted, such as three Chinese telecoms companies on Wednesday - China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom (Hong Kong) - which, after contradictory decisions, are finally banned from the New York stock exchange.
Tuesday evening, fifteen days before his scheduled departure from the White House, Mr. Trump also signed an executive order aimed at prohibiting, in the name of "national security", any transaction with eight Chinese payment services and applications, including Alipay, which belongs to Ant Group led by the founder of Alibaba, Jack Ma, and WeChat Pay, precisely a subsidiary of Tencent.
The decision is due to take effect after the Republican billionaire is replaced by President-elect Joe Biden on January 20.
© 2021 AFP