New York Stock Exchange to delist three Chinese companies with alleged ties to Chinese military

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Thursday announced plans to delist three Chinese companies with alleged ties to the Chinese military to comply with one of President Trump’s executive orders.

The NYSE announced it has begun proceedings to delist China Mobile Ltd., China Telecom Corp Ltd. and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd., and they will be suspended from trading between Jan. 7 and 11. 

The delistings come as a November executive order that prohibits U.S. investments in Chinese firms regulated by the military is set to go into effect on Jan. 11. 

Several quantitative hedge fund managers, including Renaissance Technologies LLC, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP and Two Sigma Investments LP, had the largest holdings in the U.S. listings, Bloomberg News reported. 

All three of the soon-to-be-delisted Chinese companies have separate listings in Hong Kong and have no significant presence in the U.S. outside of their listings, according to Bloomberg News, which noted the move was more symbolic amid the tension between the countries.

In November, Trump said he signed his executive order because the Chinese government seeks to influence “civilian Chinese companies to support its military and intelligence activities,” which he said presents an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the U.S. 

Earlier this year the Department of Defense released a list of dozens of Chinese companies that it said had links to the military. The Chinese Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. of “viciously slandering” the military-civilian integration policies and said they would stand by their companies, according to Bloomberg News. 

Exchanges like the NYSE had previously pursued Chinese companies over the past decade as they tried to extend their initial public offering businesses.