The move follows Trump’s order to ban US investment in alleged Chinese companies linked to the Chinese military.
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is beginning the process of delisting the securities of three Chinese telecommunications companies, China Telecom Corporation Limited, China Mobile Limited and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited, according to a statement.
The move comes after U.S. President Donald Trump in November unveiled an executive order banning U.S. investment in Chinese companies that Washington says are owned or controlled by the Chinese military, which could affect some of the largest companies in the world. China.
The November executive order was intended to give rise to a 1999 law requiring the Department of Defense to compile a list of Chinese military companies. The Pentagon, which has served only this year, has so far designated 35 companies, including CNOOC Ltd and China’s largest chip maker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.
Each of the telecommunications companies named by the NYSE also has a list in Hong Kong.
The NYSE said the issuers were no longer eligible for listing because the order prohibits any securities transaction “intended to ensure the investment exposure of any Chinese Communist military company by any person in the United States to such investment.”
The NYSE has said it will suspend trading on either January 7 or January 11. Issuers have the right to a review of the decision.
Washington-Beijing ties have become increasingly antagonistic in the past year, as the world’s top two economies have faced Beijing’s management of the coronavirus outbreak, the imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong and the rise of tensions in the South China Sea.