News / China

China decries implementation of discriminatory US stock exchange law

Thursday, 25 March 2021 10:24 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 25 March 2021 10:24 AM ]

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying attends a news conference in Beijing, China, on January 21, 2021. (Photo by Reuters)

China has decried the implementation of a law in the United States that could delist Chinese companies from American stock exchanges.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began implementing a law called the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act that is aimed at removing Chinese companies from US exchanges if they run foul of certain American auditing rules for three years in a row.

The SEC said in a statement on Wednesday that the law required firms to prove that they are not owned or controlled by an entity of a foreign government.

The rule also requires Chinese firms to name any board members who are Chinese Communist Party officials.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Thursday that the US measure distorted market principles.

Beijing also urged Washington to stop "discriminatory" action against Chinese firms.

The law was approved by the administration of former US President Donald Trump in December last year.

The United States’ relations with China grew increasingly tense under Trump. Washington clashed with Beijing over trade, the South China Sea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the coronavirus pandemic. Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo even openly called for regime change in China.

Later, President Joe Biden backed Trump’s tough approach toward China, saying that the US would continue to confront what he called China’s "attack on human rights, intellectual property and global governance," rhetoric that is used when countries do not serve US interests.

Beijing has rejected those charges.

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