Wild ride by US-listed China stocks: Reasons go beyond delisting concerns

THIS past week, China proposed revisions to its rules related to offshore listings that seem to address a longstanding impasse with the United States over the inspection of audits of Chinese companies listed on American exchanges.

Some market watchers are hopeful that the move will head off a potential mass delisting of Chinese companies in the US, and reduce the enormous volatility that has engulfed many once-high-flying Chinese stocks.

Last month, Chinese stocks gyrated wildly after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) named five companies - BeiGene, Yum China, Zai Lab, ACM Research and Hutchmed (China) - that could be delisted from American exchanges as a result of the US authorities being unable to inspect their audits as required under the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act.