New York, Jan 1 (IANS): The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has started proceedings to delist the securities of three Chinese companies, China Telecom Corporation Ltd., China Mobile Ltd. and China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd.

The decision to delist the three Chinese companies was taken in order to comply with an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump on November 12, NYSE said on Thursday.

The order targets companies believed to be affiliated with China's military.

The order prohibits, beginning 9.30 a.m. eastern standard time on January 11, 2021, any transaction in publicly traded securities, or any securities that are derivative of, or are designed to provide investment exposure to such securities, of any "Communist Chinese military company", by any United States person.

The three companies will be suspended from trading between January 7 and January 11, NYSE said.

China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom Hong Kong have separate listings in Hong Kong.