Chinese ride-hailing giant DiDi Global will hold an extraordinary shareholders' meeting on May 23. It will vote on delisting the company from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The company also said it will not apply to list its shares on any other stock exchange before the delisting from the NYSE was complete.
In the summer of 2021, Chinese regulators launched an investigation against DiDi after its US$4.4 billion initial public offering (IPO) on the NYSE.
Chinese regulators had urged the firm to put its listing on hold while a cybersecurity review of its data practices was conducted, sources have told Reuters.
Days after it went ahead, the country's powerful cyberspace watchdog ordered app stores to remove 25 mobile apps operated by DiDi and told the company to stop registering new users, citing national security and the public interest.
In December, DiDi had said that it would delist from New York and pursue a listing in Hong Kong.
Experts said DiDi’s move demonstrates the seriousness the Chinese government attaches to data security and cybersecurity, even if it comes at a huge cost to the operations of business firms.
“This also confirms my observation that the tech crackdown will continue despite Liu He’s recent announcements,”
said Henry Gao, an associate professor of law at Singapore Management University, referring to Chinese Vice-Premier Liu’s call last month for order and transparency in government dealings with Big Tech firms.
Source: South China Morning Post
