New York Stock Exchange to delist Chinese telecom firms on US executive order

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has begun the process of delisting three Chinese telecoms companies as it seeks to comply with an order by the Trump administration barring investment in firms with ties to the Chinese military.

It comes as relations between the world's two biggest economies spiral downwards over sore points ranging from trade and the coronavirus to Hong Kong and Xinjiang.

China Mobile Ltd, China Telecom Corp Ltd, and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd will be suspended from trading between January 7 and January 11. The three Chinese companies have separate listings in Hong Kong.

Quantitative hedge fund managers including Renaissance Technologies LLC, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP and Two Sigma Investments LP were among the largest holders in these US listings. The stakes they held at the end of September were, however, small.

In November, President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning Americans from investing in Chinese companies deemed to be supplying or supporting Beijing's military and security apparatus, earning a sharp rebuke from China.

The order listed 31 companies it said China was using for the "increasing exploitation" of US investment capital to fund military and intelligence services, including the development and deployment of weapons of mass destruction.

To this end, the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused the US of slandering its military-civilian integration policies and vowed to protect the country’s companies.

Under his "America First" banner, Trump has portrayed China as the greatest threat to the United States and global democracy, pursued a trade war with it, harangued Chinese tech firms, and laid all the blame for the coronavirus pandemic at Beijing's door.

Other index providers including MSCI Inc, S&P Dow Jones Indices and Nasdaq have deleted various Chinese firms from their listings.

The US Federal Communications Commission in May barred China Mobile from operating in the US.

(with inputs)