In an open
letter, a consortium of leading Chinese business executives and
investment professionals spoke about short sellers that have been publishing
negative reports on Chinese companies typically listed in the
US. When
these reports were accurate and discovered problems in the Chinese companies, noted
the business leaders, they have helped cleanse the environment. But, recently
some of these short sellers started targeting legitimate companies with either
no problems or minimal problems. Their reports would take advantage
of the information asymmetry between
China
and the
US,
noted the letter, and make misleading statements, knowing that their American
readers have no way of verifying them.
The investment professionals and Chinese company founders and executives strongly
believe there is a huge pool of legitimate, exciting, and valuable companies in
China.
They condemned the efforts of some short sellers to slam legitimate companies
and deceive investors.
Noting that
China
is not well understood by foreign investors, the business executives and
investment managers urged investors to seek trustworthy professionals for
investment advice regarding Chinese companies, and not rely on institutions and
individuals with fraudulent histories and serious conflicts of interest.