SHANGHAI • Chinese private firms are shunning the United States in their overseas expansion, and generally prefer a home listing to a US initial public offering (IPO), a private survey showed yesterday, highlighting the trade war's impact on executive decision-making.
The survey is being released at a time when US politicians are calling for tighter scrutiny over Chinese investment and capital-raising, while Beijing is encouraging domestic listings by Chinese companies.
Last week, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) proposed measures restricting US capital flows towards Chinese companies.
Despite the trade tensions, Chinese chief executive officers remain committed to global expansion, but have shifted their focus from the US to South-east Asia, Europe and Africa, according to a survey conducted by China's Tsinghua University and Marcum Bernstein & Pinchuk (MarcumBP), a leading auditor for US-listed Chinese companies.
The survey of more than 1,200 business leaders across China also found that 66 per cent of the respondents see China as the most attractive listing venue, compared with just 18.7 per cent who favour the US market. Hong Kong, even with the city's violent protests, is also ahead of the US as a preferred IPO destination.
"Most executives looking forward are veering away from the United States," said Mr Drew Bernstein, co-managing partner of MarcumBP.
But he predicted that US investors' interest in fast-growing Chinese tech unicorns would not diminish, and many Chinese companies still need access to the deep and liquid US capital markets for funding.
"We're not political people. We're just business people," said Mr Bernstein, who also provides advisory services to Chinese companies. "The truth is that there's not a lot of space in business for politics."
According to the survey, fielded at the start of the third quarter, 71 per cent of the Chinese CEOs said they are "very willing to consider mergers and acquisitions" as part of their growth strategy, with acquiring advanced technology being the most important factor in such activities.
USCC, in its 2019 report to Congress last week, said that sustained Chinese investment in cutting-edge sectors in the US raises concern for US policymakers.
USCC recommends that Congress enact legislation to preclude Chinese companies from issuing securities on US stock exchanges if their disclosure is inadequate and does not conform to US rules.
"I think there are going to be steps taken to try to improve and ensure the reliability of financial statements of these companies," Mr Bernstein said, adding, though, that the move was not necessarily politically driven.
REUTERS
