China stocks end lower after U.S. House clears delisting bill

SHANGHAI: China stocks ended lower on Thursday, weighed down by fresh tensions between Beijing and Washington after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that threatens to delist Chinese companies from U.S. stock exchanges.

Both Democrats and Donald Trump's fellow Republicans echoed the president's hard line against Beijing, which has became fiercer this year as Trump blamed China for the coronavirus ravaging the United States.

Sino-U.S. relations have been a key factor influencing market sentiment since the outbreak of the trade war in 2018.

On Wednesday, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden told the New York Times that he will not immediately cancel the trade agreement that President Donald Trump struck with China nor take steps to remove tariffs on Chinese exports.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.21pc at 3,442.14, while the blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.2pc.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 0.08pc and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 1.101pc.

Vaccine-related stocks helped limit losses in the index, after the Institute of Microbiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences said it worked with China's Chongqing Zhifei to carry out phase III trial of a coronavirus vaccine in China's Hunan province in November.

The company was up 4.6pc at market close, while the healthcare sub-index rose 2.7pc.

Vaccine stocks were also boosted after Britain approved Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine, raising hopes that the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far killed nearly 1.5 million people globally, could potentially be brought under control.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.27pc, while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.03pc.