US delisting China firms violates fair market rules

The United States' action of abusing national security to suppress Chinese enterprises is inconsistent with market rules and will weaken the confidence of all parties in the US capital market, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday.

The spokesperson made the remarks in response to the New York Stock Exchange's announcement last Thursday to delist China Telecom Corporation Ltd, China Mobile Ltd and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd.

The US act goes against the logic of the market, the spokesperson said, adding the move will not only harm the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, but also the interests of investors from other countries, including the US.

China opposes the US act of abusing national security and listing Chinese enterprises as so-called "Communist Chinese military companies" and will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of those companies, the spokesperson said.

China's top banking and insurance regulator called on the US government to promote a stable and healthy China-US relationship on Thursday.

Call for cooperation

"The cooperation between China and the US is extremely wide in the financial sector. It has brought huge benefits to the enterprises and people of both countries. A stable China-US relationship is not only in line with the fundamental interests of the two people but also meets the expectations of international society," an official of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, or CBIRC, said.

"We hope the US government will meet China halfway, uphold the spirit of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, promote the healthy development of the China-US relationship, and maintain international financial market stability together with us."

In the past year, the CBIRC continued to further open up the country's financial market. The regulator gave market access to new foreign financial institutions in both the banking and insurance sectors. A considerable part of the institutions are US-funded. Some even set up wholly foreign-owned enterprises or joint ventures in which foreign firms take a controlling majority share, the CBIRC said.

However, the US government unilaterally imposed sanctions on Chinese citizens and corporate entities according to its domestic laws, violating international laws and the basic norms of international relations, the regulatory official said.

Jiang Xueqing and Xinhua contributed to this story.