File photo shows the entrance of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) in Beijing, capital of China. (Photo:Xinhua)

China's securities regulator on Saturday announced changes to cross-border regulations for offshore-listed Chinese companies in a draft regulatory document addressing confidentiality and document management for overseas listings, which experts said showed China's ongoing good-faith efforts to resolve the audit dispute with the US while pledging to protect national information security.

China reiterated its support for companies to choose a oversea listing market, and pledged to improve cross-border supervision and work with related parties to safeguard the rights and interests of global investors.

The revised regulation will provide clearer guidelines for confidentiality and file management work involved in overseas listings, which will guide enterprises to properly manage classified and sensitive information, and fulfill the responsibility of protecting national information security, according to a transcript of answering press questions published on China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC)'s site.

The investigation and evidence collection or inspection conducted by overseas regulatory agencies in China shall be conducted through a cross-border regulatory cooperation mechanism, Chinese authorities shall provide necessary assistance in accordance with the bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanism, according to the transcript.

According to the international practice of cross-border audit supervision cooperation, the statement in the original regulations that "on-site inspections should be mainly conducted by Chinese regulatory agencies, or rely on the inspection results of Chinese regulatory agencies" has been deleted, the transcript read.

This reflects China's continued openness in negotiating with the US on the audit of US-listed Chinese companies. Meanwhile, China also emphasizes that it will continue to strengthen the management of confidentiality for overseas listings, which will gradually ease the supervision dispute over US-listed Chinese companies between China and the US, Dong Shaopeng, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told the Global Times.

The ball is in the US' court as China shows goodwill to remove obstacles allowing for strengthened audit cooperation, Dong said, noting that instead of continuing arbitrary long-arm jurisdiction or exacerbate crackdown on US-listed Chinese companies, the US should show some sincerity.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday added five New York-listed stocks to its third batch watch list that may be forced to delist, citing the so-called Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act. Hong Kong-listed tech stocks tumbled on Friday, deepening after a prolonged sell-off caused by the US' crackdown.

The US should immediately stop such threatening actions and conduct supervision from the perspective of maintaining market stability on both sides. It's hoped the US can respect China's laws and cooperate within existing frameworks, and improve its own supervisory rules, Dong said.

Global Times