China Business Digest: Trump Moves to Rein In U.S.-Listed Chinese Firms; JD.com Files for Second Listing in Hong Kong

U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking input on how to make U.S.-listed Chinese companies obey local accounting rules. As tensions mount between the world’s two largest economies, Nasdaq-listed JD.com has filed for a second listing in Hong Kong. Meantime, on the virus front, Brazil has surpassed Italy to become the country with the third-most fatalities.

— By Tang Ziyi (ziyitang@caixin.com)

** TOP STORIES OF THE DAY

Washington seeks recommendations on tougher rules for U.S.-listed Chinese companies

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday called for recommendations to make U.S.-listed Chinese companies more accountable, according to a memo released by the White House. Currently, the fact that U.S. auditors don’t have access to China-based companies’ audit working papers means the firms fail to abide by the same rigorous accounting standards as their U.S. peers.

U.S. trade negotiator satisfied with China’s progress on trade deal

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said Thursday during an online event that he felt good (link in Chinese) about the progress China had made fulfilling its commitments in the phase one China-U.S. trade agreement. He said China has done a good job in carrying out structural changes

JD.com files for Hong Kong listing

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com Inc. on Friday filed a document with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, as the U.S.-listed company moves toward a second listing in the city amid escalating Sino-U.S. tensions. According to the document, JD.com has also applied for a waiver of a compliance requirement, so it can spin off a subsidiary and list it in Hong Kong within three years of its listing.

** OTHER STORIES MAKING THE HEADLINES

Economy & Finance

• The Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the region’s de facto central bank, on Friday sold HK$977 million ($126.1 million) worth of Hong Kong dollars into the market after the local currency appreciated to a trading limit (link in Chinese) with U.S. dollars.

• China’s top banking regulator issued assurances that Hong Kong’s unique strength as an international financial center will not be weakened under Beijing’s pending new national security law for the special administrative region.

• Chinese banking regulators are stepping up scrutiny over companies’ borrowing to prevent them from taking advantage of easing policies designed to support businesses amid the pandemic.

Business & Tech

• A spokesperson from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday that the country’s civil aviation regulator is lodging “stern representations” with Washington on the U.S. government’s flight ban on all Chinese passenger carriers starting June 16. The spokesperson said China hopes the U.S. will not create obstacles to resolving the issue.

The spokesperson made the comments the same day that China’s aviation regulator said it will allow foreign airlines that previously operated flights to the country but have been restricted since late March due to virus control measures to resume limited flights.

• Leading Chinese property developer China Vanke Co. Ltd. said Thursday it plans to raise a net HK$7.87 billion ($1.01 billion) through a stock placement in Hong Kong. The company said proceeds will be used to supplement operating capital and repay overseas debts.

• China Unicom, one of the country’s three major state-owned telecom operators, had built nearly 130,000 5G base stations across the country as of the end of May, according to data from the company, multiple media outlets reported.

• Debt-saddled China State Railway Group Co. Ltd., the massive state-owned national railway network operator, has been approved (link in Chinese) to issue 210 billion yuan ($29.6 billion) of bonds for railway construction projects and debt structure adjustment.

• Wanda Hotel Development Co. Ltd. warned investors that its first-quarter revenue is estimated to have dropped at least 40% year-on-year due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to a Wednesday filing.

• A draft regulation under public consultation in Beijing that would criminalize the slander of traditional Chinese medicine has drawn sharp criticism from legal experts who say it is too open-ended and may exceed the city’s legal authority.

• India’s government announced Tuesday that it would set aside 500 billion rupees ($6.6 billion) over the next five years to encourage companies to set up smartphone manufacturing facilities in the country. Industry analysts said the program might give India a long-term edge over China in competing for manufacturing.

** ON THE CORONAVIRUS

• As of Friday afternoon Beijing time, the number of coronavirus infections globally surpassed 6.6 million, with the death toll passing 390,000, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

• Brazil reported more than 34,000 deaths, overtaking Italy as the country with third-most deaths from the virus worldwide.

• On Thursday, the Chinese mainland reported five new cases showing symptoms of infection (link in Chinese), four of those imported cases in Shanghai and one in Southwest China’s Sichuan province, according to official data. The mainland added three new asymptomatic cases on the same day.

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Caixin’s coverage of the new coronavirus

** AND FINALLY

Basketball fans take note: the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) will resume games on June 20 — albeit with no crowds. The CBA will be China’s first large-scale sports league to restart now that the country’s coronavirus outbreak is largely under control.

The Chinese Basketball Association will become China's first large-scale sports league to resume games on June 20, after being shut down for 132 days. Photo: IC Photo

** LOOKING AHEAD

June 7: Release of China trade data for May

June 10: Release of China CPI and PPI data for May

Contact reporter Tang Ziyi (ziyitang@caixin.com) and editors Yang Ge (geyang@caixin.com) and Joshua Dummer (joshuadummer@caixin.com)

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