Numbers game: Beijing closer to a deal on audits of Chinese companies listed on US exchanges
- While the deadlock remains about compliance with US regulations, Chinese companies face delisting from American markets
- Dispute is already reshaping US-China financial ties, with companies and investors turning to Hong Kong
As Washington and Beijing clash on fronts ranging from defence and human rights to trade and diplomacy, they might be making headway in one area: accounting.
Over the past several weeks, Beijing has signalled a willingness to compromise in an audit dispute that has threatened Chinese companies with delisting from American stock exchanges unless they comply with US accounting regulations.
“My probability of an agreement being reached went up significantly with [that] statement,” said Martin Chorzempa, a fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and expert on Beijing’s financial liberalisation.
It indicated flexibility by Beijing, Chorzempa said, and that “they really do care about Chinese firms being able to list abroad”.
Cooperation on any front in US-China relations seemed unlikely after years of recriminations on just about every issue – including Beijing’s determination to support domestic hi-tech companies, like Huawei Technologies, capable of out-competing US businesses.
