China Proposes Revised Rules to Enable Sino-U.S. Audit Cooperation

China proposed revising rules that restrict offshore-traded companies’ sharing of financial data in a step toward resolving a long-running audit dispute with the U.S. that threatens to result in more than 200 Chinese stocks being kicked off U.S. exchanges.

The revised draft rules — jointly released Saturday by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the Ministry of Finance, the National Administration of State Secrets Protection and the National Archives Administration — would remove previous requirements that on-site inspections of overseas-traded Chinese companies should be mainly conducted by Chinese regulators or rely on their inspection findings.