The Difficulties and Risks for Chinese Companies Using the Vie Structure to List on the U.S. Stock Market

Abstract

When a company reaches a certain scale, it will seek broader markets to earn profits and pursue long-term development. Overseas listing is one of the avenues pursued by these companies. Through overseas listing, the company can issue an initial offering on the overseas stock market to achieve its purpose. In China, some companies, mainly Internet giants such as Alibaba, JD.com, and New Oriental, are prohibited from directly listing overseas because these companies hold important user data and national data. So, in this environment, these restricted companies discovered a structure called a variable interest entity (VIE) and used it to go public overseas. But leveraging this architecture doesn't mean it's easy and risk-free. My paper will focus on the difficulties and risks encountered by Chinese companies using VIE structures to list overseas, especially now that Sino-US relations have become special and will look into the future paths and prospects of Chinese companies listing overseas.