NYSE delists three Chinese firms with military links

The New York Stock Exchange is delisting three Chinese corporations to comply with a U.S. executive order that imposed restrictions on companies identified as affiliated with the Chinese military.

China Mobile Ltd., China Telecom Corp Ltd., China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd. will be suspended from trading between Jan. 7 and Jan. 11, and proceedings to delist them have started, according to a statement by the exchange.

The three Chinese companies have separate listings in Hong Kong. All generate the their entire revenue in China and have no significant presence in the U.S. except for their listings there. Their shares are also thinly traded on the New York Stock Exchange compared to their primary listings in Hong Kong, making this NYSE delisting more of a symbolic blow amid heightened geopolitical friction between the U.S. and China.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed an order in November barring American investments in Chinese firms owned or controlled by the military. The order prohibited U.S. investors from buying and selling shares in a list of Chinese companies identified by the Pentagon as having military ties..