, Columnist
For Once, China and China Hawks See Eye-to-Eye
Beijing and Washington seem to share the same view about U.S.-listed companies: They’re a headache.
Rare unity.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
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After years of squabbling over everything from soybeans and viruses to technology and Taiwan, it now looks like Beijing and Washington may be on the same page about one thing: U.S.-listed Chinese companies.
America’s most hawkish China watchers have been banging on about variable-interest entities for years. This mutant corporate structure evolved from a decades-old rule that prevents foreigners from owning various types of mainland businesses, notably in the internet sector. Foreign investors end up holding bits of what amount to shell companies.