CHINESE companies are choosing to make their market trading debuts in the United States, even as China and the United States spar over everything from trade and coronavirus to audit access.

Firms based in China have raised US$9.1 billion through U.S. initial public offerings (IPO) this year, putting 2020 on course for the highest annual total since 2014. The list is still growing: Chinese budget consumer goods retailer Miniso Group Holding Ltd. has started its U.S. IPO that could raise as much as US$562 million, while Lufax Holding Ltd., a Chinese fintech firm, filed last week for a U.S. listing that could potentially raise at least US$3 billion.

“The United States remains an attractive venue for Chinese companies to list,” said Tucker Highfield, co-head of equity capital markets for Asia Pacific at Bank of America Corp. The United States still offers Chinese firms greater flexibility, deeper liquidity and a much more time-efficient listing application process, he said.

The surge came as tensions between the world’s two biggest economies spilled over this year, in everything from trade to markets. In August, U.S. regulators threatened to ban Chinese companies from listing in the United States.

For some, the threat of future delisting didn’t put them off. Online property platform KE Holdings Inc. in July raised US$2.4 billion in this year’s biggest U.S. IPO by a Chinese firm, followed by electric carmaker XPeng Inc.’s US$1.7 billion offering two weeks later.

Still, the United States is only getting a fraction of the business. The mainland and Hong Kong picked up 86 percent of the US$94.7 billion that mainland companies have raised globally through initial offerings this year.

Ant Group Co.’s impending simultaneous listings in Hong Kong and Shanghai could pull in as much as US$35 billion. Ride hailing app Dida Inc. became the latest to join the rush, filing preliminary documents Thursday for a Hong Kong listing.

One reason Chinese companies are choosing to go public in the United States rather than closer to home is that unlike in their local markets, the United States allows companies to list even if they are not yet profitable. In Hong Kong, only biotech firms and those with dual-class share structures are exempt from the requirement. (SD-Agencies)