The United States and China are nearing an agreement allowing American accounting regulators to travel to Hong Kong to inspect audit records of US-listed Chinese companies, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Securities regulators in Beijing are making arrangements for Chinese companies listed in New York and their accounting firms to transfer audit working papers and other data from China to Hong Kong, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter.

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Regulators from the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) would then go to perform on-site inspections.

The PCAOB did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.