Beijing is scrambling to keep the U.S. from kicking Chinese firms worth $1.4 trillion off Wall Street

For 20 years, Chinese companies listed on U.S. stock exchanges—which now number 261—have existed in a state of limbo. They are subject to U.S. rules requiring they show their books to U.S. regulators, but Beijing has denied inspectors access, casting the two sides into a decades-long impasse. Washington had largely let Chinese firms’ noncompliance slide so American investors could tap into the riches of some of China’s most successful enterprises. But now U.S. lawmakers are demanding an end to the standoff with a law that would boot $1.4 trillion worth of Chinese stocks from American exchanges if Beijing continues to keep regulators at bay.

Read more here.