China slams US signature of bill barring Chinese firms from US stock market

BEIJING -- Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin has voiced firm opposition to US President Donald Trump's signing into law a piece of legislation which "seriously hinders the normal listing of Chinese companies in the United States."

The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, recently passed by the US House of Representatives, demands additional information disclosure from foreign public companies in the US market, including the requirement that foreign issuers of securities establish that they are not owned or controlled by a foreign government.

"This was nothing but an unreasonable political crackdown on Chinese companies listed in the United States," Wang said at a press briefing.

Noting that the move has severely distorted the basic principles of market economy the US always claims to champion, he said it would deprive US investors and the US public of benefiting from the development of Chinese companies, weaken global investors' confidence in the US capital market, and eventually damage the international status and reputation of the US capital market.

"We urged the United States not to implement the discriminatory provisions in the law that involve China, and to cease the erroneous practice of politicizing securities supervision," Wang said.

He called on the US side to promote audit and regulatory cooperation jointly with the Chinese regulatory authorities on the basis of mutual respect, and to provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory regulatory environment for companies from various countries including China to be listed in the United States.