SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s three largest phone companies saw their shares fall as much as 5% in Hong Kong on Monday, the first trading session since the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which announced the withdrawal of companies according to a Chinese plan marked as “political” ”and of“ limited ”impact.
The NYSE said on Thursday it would withdraw China Mobile Ltd, China Telecom Corp Ltd and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd following the US government’s decision in November to block investment in 31 companies it said owned or controlled by the military. Chinese.
China’s Securities Regulatory Commission, in a question and answer posted Sunday on its website, said the plan was “politically motivated.”
The measure “completely ignores the real situation of relevant companies and the legitimate rights and interests of global investors and severely undermines normal market rules,” he said.
U.S. deposit receipts listed by the three telecommunications companies have a combined market value of less than 20 billion yuan ($ 3.07 million), or 2.2% of the companies ’net worth, the regulator said.
“Even if you get off the list, the direct impact on the development and functioning of the corporate market is quite limited,” he said.
Shares of China Mobile fell 4.5% in Hong Kong on Monday to HK $ 42.20, its lowest price since July 2007. China Telecom fell 5.6% and China Unicom losing 3.4% compared to a 0.8% increase in the Hang Seng benchmark. .
All three said they had not received any notice of withdrawal from the NYSE.
In a research note, analysts at Citic Securities said the withdrawal decision lived up to expectations.
“The three companies on average only have 1.5% of their shares listed in the US and the rest in Hong Kong, have high liquidity and have not raised funds in the United States for 20 years. Having shares listed in the US only it will be more risky for them ”.
Washington has stepped up its tough stance against China in recent weeks. In December, he added dozens of Chinese companies to the commercial blacklist, accusing Beijing of using them to take advantage of civilian technology for military purposes.
On Saturday, China’s trade ministry said it would take “necessary steps” to safeguard the interests of Chinese companies.
“In recent years it has been quite normal to see Chinese companies withdraw from the US or have secondary quotations in Hong Kong,” Citic analysts wrote on Monday. “With the downgrade, the three telecommunications companies will have the opportunity to re-evaluate their shares and reduce the cost of financial disclosure.”
($ 1 = 6,5250 yuan)
Reports by Engen Tham, Wang Jing, Samuel Shen and Pei Li; Edited by Christopher Cushing