Chinese firms raised almost $12 billion through IPOs on US exchanges this year

A new report by Renaissance Capital found that investor appetite for Chinese companies in US stock markets rose to a six-year high in 2020 despite trade tensions between the two countries.

The data showed that China-based companies raised $11.7 billion through 30 initial public offerings in the United States this year. That’s the highest amount of capital raised since 2014, when 16 China-based companies raised $25.7 billion. The report has found that e-commerce giant Alibaba accounted for the bulk of that year’s listings as the biggest IPO to date at the time.

Renaissance said that earlier this year some Chinese businesses had delayed their plans for listings in the US amid the Covid pandemic and an accounting scandal at Luckin Coffee in April. Nasdaq delisted the company this summer, just about a year after it became the first company since 2000 to achieve a $3 billion valuation in less than 24 months.

Still, US pressure on Chinese firms has failed to stop them from listing on Wall Street as businesses are eager to offer their shares to investors there. Listings accelerated despite rising trade and political tensions between Washington and Beijing, and pressure on Chinese companies by the US government. 

In addition to blacklisting Huawei and other tech firms, US has been threatening to kick Chinese companies out of US stock markets. Earlier this month, US Congress passed a bill that would exert greater regulatory supervision on Chinese firms. It would force foreign-based companies to submit to oversight by the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB).

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