China private firms shun US as investment, IPO destination: Survey

This article is more than 12 months old

Nov 20, 2019 06:00 am

SHANGHAI : Chinese private companies are shunning the US 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 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.

Chinese chief executives remain committed to global expansion, but have shifted their focus from the US to South-east Asia, Europe and Africa, showed a survey conducted jointly by China's Tsinghua University and Marcum Bernstein and Pinchuk (MarcumBP), a leading auditor for US-listed Chinese companies.

The survey 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.

Mr Drew Bernstein, co-managing partner of MarcumBP, predicted that US investors' interest in fast-growing Chinese tech unicorns won't diminish, and many Chinese companies still need access to the deep and liquid US capital markets for funding. - REUTERS