Any hopes that the US might reverse plans to delist more Chinese companies are unwarranted, says Gary Gensler. The chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission made that clear this week.

It is too late for China’s biggest offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC, which left the New York Stock Exchange in October. US officials had previously deemed CNOOC a threat to national security. The Hong Kong-listed explorer plans to raise $5.5bn in a homecoming listing in Shanghai next month, just as high oil prices boost profits. But growing risks mean investors should be wary.

CNOOC’S timing might seem right. It expects first-quarter profit to grow as much as 89 per cent from a year earlier. Last year, higher output and rising oil and gas prices had already tripled its net profit to Rmb70bn ($11bn). Its share price has surged 40 per cent in four months.