A bill to bar access to United States capital markets to enterprises owned or controlled by the People's Republic of China, and for other purposes.

Summary: China Free Enterprise Act of 2001 - Prohibits any security issued by, or other interest or participation in, a Chinese Government state-owned enterprise from being listed (or authorized for listing) on the New York Stock Exchange or the American Stock Exchange, the National Market System of the Nasdaq Stock Market, or on a national securities exchange (or tier or segment thereof) or by a registered securities association.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``China Free Enterprise Act of 2001''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress find that--
            (1) an increased number of privatized enterprises and 
        start-up private enterprises in the People's Republic of China 
        will serve the interests and quality of life of the people of 
        the People's Republic of China, given the greater economic 
        growth potential of market-oriented development;
            (2) a limitation on access to United States capital markets 
        by Chinese state-owned enterprises will indicate a United 
        States preference for economic transactions with and investment 
        in privatized enterprises, rather than state-owned enterprises, 
        and therefore establish an incentive for the Government of the 
        People's Republic of China to accelerate privatization efforts;
            (3) resources given to state-owned enterprises effectively 
        empower the repressive apparatus of an autocratic government in 
        the People's Republic of China to perpetuate human and labor 
        rights abuses, the subjugation of Tibet, the despoiling of the 
        environment, and suppression of religious freedoms;
            (4) investments made available to state-owned enterprises 
        affiliated with the complex of military and technology 
        industries in the People's Republic of China would be 
        particularly inimical to United States interests, given China's 
        military buildup directed against the United States, Chinese 
        military policies in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, and 
        arms proliferation efforts destabilizing to the democracies of 
        the Asia-Pacific region and the already volatile Persian Gulf 
        region;
            (5) state-owned enterprises of the People's Republic of 
        China which have raised funds in the United States capital 
        markets have failed to engage in adequate disclosure to United 
        States investors concerning where these enterprises (as well as 
        their subsidiaries, parent companies, or other affiliates) are 
        doing business in the world, and with whom;
            (6) the state-owned Petrochina energy enterprise in the 
        People's Republic of China has offered its securities in the 
        United States without disclosing that investors' funds would be 
        directly or indirectly subsidizing operations in Sudan on the 
        part of its parent company, China National Petroleum Company, 
        effectively underwriting the systematic religious persecution 
        and heinous human rights abuses of the Government of Sudan;
            (7) a second state-owned enterprise of the People's 
        Republic of China, China Petroleum and Chemical Company or 
        ``Sinopec'', has offered securities in the United States 
        without disclosing its recent, and possibly ongoing, investment 
        activity in Sudan or its negotiations to conclude contracts in 
        Iran's energy sector, in violation of the Iran-Libya Sanctions 
        Act of 1993;
            (8) a limitation on access to United States capital markets 
        by Chinese state-owned enterprises will not have a deleterious 
        effect on United States businesses, consumers, or workers as 
        trade sanctions may have;
            (9) a limitation on access to United States capital markets 
        by Chinese state-owned enterprises will do no appreciable harm 
        to United States investors or the free flow of capital into and 
        out of the United States;
            (10) a limitation on access to United States capital 
        markets by Chinese state-owned enterprises will do no 
        appreciable harm to the people of the People's Republic of 
        China, whose welfare and individual liberties it should be the 
        United States policy to enhance; and
            (11) a limitation on access to United States capital 
        markets by Chinese state-owned enterprises does not violate the 
        terms of permanent normal trade relations status granted by the 
        United States to the People's Republic of China, nor the 
        General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

SEC. 3. BAN ON SECURITIES MARKET ACCESS.

    Notwithstanding any provision of the securities laws or any other 
provision of law, no security issued by, or other interest or 
participation in, a state-owned enterprise may be--
            (1) listed, or authorized for listing, on the New York 
        Stock Exchange or the American Stock Exchange, or listed, or 
        authorized for listing, on the National Market System of the 
        Nasdaq Stock Market (or any successor to such entities); or
            (2) otherwise listed, or authorized for listing, on a 
        national securities exchange (or tier or segment thereof) or by 
        a registered securities association.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act--
            (1) the term ``registered securities association'' means a 
        securities association registered under section 15A of the 
        Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78o-3);
            (2) the terms ``securities laws'' and ``security'' have the 
        same meanings as in section 3(a) of the Securities Exchange Act 
        of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)); and
            (3) the term ``state-owned enterprise'' means any entity, 
        not less than 50 percent of the assets of which are owned by 
        any agency or instrumentality of the Government of the People's 
        Republic of China (including any agency or instrumentality 
        thereof), either directly or through a subsidiary, parent 
        company, or other affiliate, including those located in Hong 
        Kong or elsewhere.