FTSE Russell to drop Xiaomi, Luokung from indexes on Trump administration order

Shanghai

GLOBAL index publisher FTSE Russell will drop Xiaomi and another high-tech firm from global and Chinese indexes, it said on Friday, and scrap inclusion of a semiconductor firm, in line with a US executive order by former president Donald Trump.

The changes come after the Trump administration in January placed Xiaomi and eight other companies on a blacklist of companies with alleged ties to Chinese military, barring United States investors from holding their shares.

Xiaomi is to be deleted from the Global All Cap and FTSE Global China A Inclusion indexes, along with Luokung Technology Corp's N shares from the FTSE Global Total Cap and Micro Cap indexes, the index publisher said.

The changes take effect from March 12, FTSE Russell said in a statement, citing the order. It added that the deletions were subject to further guidance from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The proposed addition of Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment to global and China indexes would "not proceed as previously announced", the company said.

Xiaomi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At the time of the blacklisting, Xiaomi denied any ties to the Chinese military. Later that month, the smartphone maker filed a lawsuit against the US government in response. REUTERS