The US government is contemplating a plan that would prevent Americans from buying shares in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA,
and Tencent Holdings Ltd. TCEHY,
according to The Wall Street Journal. The government has increasingly suppressed investments in companies that it claims to have links with the Chinese military. The WSJ report, which cites several anonymous sources, said the United States government has debated whether investment restrictions on Alibaba and Tencent would have a long-term impact on the markets, and it remains uncertain whether the government will follow through with such bans. At the end of Tuesday, the New York Stock Exchange changed its position again on the removal of three Chinese telecommunications companies – China Telecom Corp. Ltd. CHA,
China Mobile Ltd. CHL,
and China Unicom CHU,
– from its stock exchanges, as it seeks to comply with an executive order from President Trump that aims to prevent American investors from buying shares in companies with alleged ties to China’s military. The New York Stock Exchange said last week that it would remove the names from the list, before reversing the course earlier this week and later saying that it would return to the original plans to withdraw the shares. Alibaba’s US-listed shares fell about 5% in Wednesday afternoon’s trading, while Tencent’s shares fell more than 3%.
