Alibaba among China stocks gaining after report details possible resolution to U.S.-China audit issue

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies were heading sharply higher in Thursday morning trading after The Wall Street Journal reported that officials from the U.S. and China were near an agreement that would let U.S. accounting regulators go to Hong Kong in order to inspect the financial audit records of Chinese companies whose shares are listed in the U.S. Chinese securities officials are preparing for Chinese companies with U.S. listings to move their audit working papers to Hong Kong from mainland China, per the report, which cites anonymous sources. The inspection of accounting paperwork for Chinese companies has been a source of recent tension between the U.S. and China, with the Securities and Exchange Commission recently adding Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. BABA, +8.08%, among others, to a list of companies whose shares were at risk of an eventual New York delisting given rules about inspection of auditing processes. U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba were up 7.2% in Thursday morning trading, while shares of iQiyi Inc. IQ, +7.95%, JD.com Inc. JD, +9.29%, Bilibili Inc. BILI, +10.61%, and Huya Inc. HUYA, +9.57% were each up more than 8%. Shares of electronic-vehicles company Nio Inc. NIO, +6.09% were up more than 6%.