More Chinese state-owned enterprises namely PetroChina, Sinpoec, Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, Aluminium Corporation of China and China Life Insurance announced on Friday that they would apply to delist their American depository shares this month.
The move is a result of the scrutiny of the United States securities regulator.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission flagged the five companies and many others as failing to meet US auditing standards in May.
The companies did not mention the dispute in their announcements, which come as tensions mounted after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
Both sides of Beijing and Washington are in discussion to resolve a long-running audit dispute which could result in Chinese companies being banned from US exchanges if China does not comply with Washington’s demand for complete access to the books of US-listed Chinese companies.
According to US SEC, there are 273 Chinese companies risk being delisted according to rules which potentially prohibit trading in Chinese companies under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act which include other state-owned companies like CNOOC and China Southern Airlines.
