Reuters - The New York Stock Exchange is starting the process of delisting securities of three China telecom companies, China Telecom Corp. Ltd., China Mobile Ltd. and China Unicom Ltd., it said in a statement Thursday.
President Donald Trump in November signed an executive order barring U.S. investments in China companies that the U.S. says are owned or controlled by China's military - which could affect some of China's biggest companies listed in the U.S.
The order sought to give teeth to a 1999 law that mandated the Department of Defense to compile a list of China military companies. The Pentagon, which complied with the mandate this year only, has so far designated 35 companies, including oil company CNOOC Ltd. and China's top chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.
Each of the telecoms companies named by the New York Stock Exchange also has a listing in Hong Kong.
New York Stock Exchange said that the issuers were no longer suitable for listing because the order prohibits transactions in securities "designed to provide investment exposure to such securities, of any Communist Chinese military company, by any United States person."
New York Stock Exchange said it would suspend trading Jan. 7 or Jan. 11. The issuers can seek a review.
Ties between the U.S. and China have become increasingly strained over the past year as the world's top two economies sparred over China's handling of the coronavirus outbreak, imposition of a national security law in Hong Kong and rising tensions in the South China Sea.
