Signs of a breakthrough in China audit deal

Plans by four China government owned companies to delist from the NYSE could signal that a U.S.-China deal on cross-border audits is nearly in hand. 

The companies’ plans to voluntarily delist, revealed in SEC filings Friday, would remove Beijing’s concern that the U.S. would pick companies “too sensitive to inspect” during trial audit inspections, Kyle Sullivan, a VP in Albright Stonebridge Group’s China practice, said via Twitter. The state-owned enterprises are Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., China Life Insurance Co. Ltd., PetroChina Co. Ltd. and Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co. Ltd...