Responding U.S. delisting, China says 'decoupling' would harm both
Updated 20:19, 30-Sep-2019
CGTN
01:01

China warned on Monday of instability in international markets from any "decoupling" of China and the United States, after media reports that the Trump administration was considering delisting Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said he had noted the recent reports on delisting and the response from the U.S. Treasury, which said there were no plans to block Chinese listings "at this time."

China-U.S. trade and financial cooperation is mutually beneficial, Geng told a daily news briefing. "Exerting maximum pressure and even seeking the forced decoupling of China-U.S. relations will harm the interests of Chinese and American companies and people, create turmoil in financial markets, and endanger global trade and economic growth," Geng said.

"We hope that the U.S. can work together with China to continuously deepen economic and trade cooperation and financial cooperation between the two countries and, at the same time, seek a solution to the problems in a constructive manner."

VCG Photo

VCG Photo

People familiar with the internal deliberations on Friday said Trump administration officials are discussing ways to limit U.S. investors' portfolio flows into China. Delisting Chinese companies from the U.S. stock exchanges is one among the options. 

Meanwhile, U.S. stocks fell after media reports raised concerns about further escalation in the U.S.-China trade war.

Treasury spokeswoman Monica Crowley said on Saturday that the United States does not currently plan to stop Chinese companies from listing on U.S. exchanges, Bloomberg cited from an email statement.

"The administration is not contemplating blocking Chinese companies from listing shares on U.S. stock exchanges at this time," said Crowley.

These moves came ahead of the new round of trade consultations between China and the U.S. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will lead the Chinese delegation to visit Washington for the 13th round of the China-U.S. high-level economic and trade consultations in the week following China's National Day holiday.