Home ›› 14 Dec 2021 ›› World Biz
Chinese artificial intelligence start-up SenseTime said Monday it was postponing a $767 million initial public offering in Hong Kong after it was blacklisted by the United States over accusations of genocide in Xinjiang.
The US Treasury announced the ban on Friday, saying SenseTime’s facial recognition programmes were designed in part to be used against Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, where UN experts and researchers estimate more than one million have been incarcerated in prison camps.
The blacklisting immediately cast a shadow over the company’s upcoming IPO plans in Hong Kong, which had been due to take place a week later. It also illustrated the risks investors face from competing sanctions as relations between the world’s two biggest economies sour.
On Monday, SenseTime filed a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange saying it would postpone its listing “to safeguard the interests of the potential investors” as they weigh the impact of being placed on the blacklist.
SenseTime said it “remains committed” to listing in Hong Kong soon and would fully refund those who had already invested.
The US sanctions and blacklisting can prevent individuals from obtaining visas to the United States, block assets under US jurisdiction, and prevent the targets from doing business with US individuals or entities -- effectively locking them out of the US banking system.
A blacklisting would make it all but impossible for US investment banks usually involved in Hong Kong listings to get involved, or for a US national to invest in the offering.
China on Monday decried the latest sanctions, which were also placed on two government officials in Xinjiang.
“If the US insists on acting rashly, China will have to take effective measures to firmly fight back,” foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters.
