Photographer: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg
Photographer: Michael Nagle / Bloomberg
O The New York Stock Exchange said it would no longer withdraw the three largest state-owned telecommunications companies from China, backing down on a plan that threatened to increase tensions between the world’s largest economies.
The NYSE turnaround came just four days after the exchange announced it would remove shares in China Mobile Ltd., China Telecom Corp. and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. to comply with a US executive order. The NYSE cited “consultation with the relevant regulatory authorities” in a brief statement Monday night, announcing the reversal.
Actions of China Mobile, China Telecom and Unicom has recovered with the most recent development, up over 6% in Hong Kong trade. Calls and emails to the companies were not immediately returned on Tuesday.
On New Year’s Eve, the NYSE announced that it would remove companies from the list to comply with a November order from U.S. President Donald Trump, which banned American investments in Chinese companies owned or controlled by the military. It was the first time that an American exchange announced plans to remove a Chinese company as a direct result of the growing geopolitical tensions between the two superpowers.
The decision to withdraw shares from the stock exchange raised concerns about the same currency sanctions on Chinese and American companies. The former have turned to the US stock market in search of capital and international prestige for more than two decades, raising at least $ 144 billion from some of the world’s largest investors. Wall Street banks are particularly eager to see tensions ease after gaining an unprecedented scope to operate in China last year.
(Background updates)