April 19, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Wanli International Holdings Ltd., a Chinese tile manufacturer, is poised to be delisted from South Korea‘s secondary stock market, the local bourse operator said on May 13, adding to lackluster investor sentiment toward Korea-listed Chinese firms.

Trading of Wanli International Holdings will be terminated on May 23 from the tech-savvy KOSDAQ market, the Korea Exchange said. Wanli will become the 10th Chinese firm to be booted out from the local bourse.

Wanli International Holdings, one of the top wall tile makers in China, joined the junior KOSDAQ in June 2011. The stock trading was suspended in 2017 due to a disclaimer of opinion on its 2016 financial statement.

Investor confidence toward locally listed Chinese shares plunged after China Gaoxian Fibre Fabric Holdings Ltd., a Chinese textile company, was first expelled in 2011, just months after being traded on the KOSDAQ exchange over dubious accounting practices.

China’s United Technology Holdings was ousted from the local bourse in the following year after failing to comply with regulatory conditions. Two Chinese firms -- 3Nod Digital and China Food Packaging -- voluntarily dropped the listing of their shares in 2013.

Some analysts cautioned that a string of delistings of Chinese firms from the local market could lead to the “China-phobia,” citing that investor confidence toward locally listed Chinese shares have plunged.

“There are so many delisting cases (of Chinese firms) due to disclaimers of opinion,” said Kim Dae-jun, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities, cautioning local investors about taking risks in such high-risk cases.

By Park Ga-young and newswires (gypark@heraldcorp.com)