US regulators will attempt to inspect the Chinese audit files of Alibaba and Yum China next month as part of a landmark deal between Beijing and Washington, according to people familiar with the matter.The deal, agreed on Friday, allows the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, America’s accounting watchdog, to vet the work of audit firms in mainland China and Hong Kong for the first time.
The agreement has laid the foundation to resolve a long simmering dispute between the two superpowers that could result in the US banning the trading on its exchanges of around 200 Chinese companies in 2024, threatening the value of around $1.4tn in the companies’ shares.
Jack Ma’s ecommerce group Alibaba is China’s most valuable overseas-listed company, with a market capitalisation of $249bn on the New York stock exchange. Yum China, which owns the KFC and Pizza Hut brands in China, is worth $21bn on US markets.