Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell on May 12, 2025, in New York City. US stocks roared back on Monday local time after the US and China agreed to temporarily slash tariffs following negotiations over the weekend in Switzerland, according to CNBC. Photo: VCG

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that US companies should be allowed to report earnings every six months instead of on a quarterly basis, arguing that China's reporting requirements for public companies were business-friendly, compared to those in the US, according to BBC. 

The remarks sparked some discussions in both China and the US as many of China's largest A-share listed companies publish quarterly reports without mandatory requirements from China Securities Regulatory Commission. 

"Did you ever hear the statement that, 'China has a 50 to 100 year view on management of a company, whereas we run our companies on a quarterly basis???' Not good!!!", Trump wrote in his truth social account, according to the BBC.

On Saturday, Trump has also made comparison between China and US' criminal justice system, saying "One thing I say is we have to have quick trials. I call it quick trials. Because in China, they do have quick trials, you know?" according to the Huffpost, "they don't wait six years, and claim all sorts of reasons —" Trump said, suggesting that the US justice system should work very quickly and be more like the system in China.

According to Newsweek, Trump has also pointed out that China and other Asian countries have built bullet train networks that "go unbelievably fast, unbelievably comfortable with no problems," while criticizing the US for lagging behind in high-speed rail, saying "we don't have anything like that in this country. Not even close. And it doesn't make sense that we don't."

The admiration coincide with growing official US efforts to build or fund high-speed or higher-speed rail, sometimes explicitly compared to systems in China. According to Newsweek, the US began construction on its first high-speed rail line connecting Las Vegas and southern California; several other proposals are under discussion, including high-speed links between Dallas and Houston and between Chicago and St. Louis.

However, despite Trump's calling of China's "50 to 100 year view on management of a company," many of China's largest A-share listed companies publish quarterly reports without mandatory requirements from China Securities Regulatory Commission. 

Reuters cited M. Todd Henderson, a law professor at the University of Chicago and an expert on securities regulation, saying that he expected many companies would continue to feed investor appetite for quarterly disclosures even if the US Securities and Exchange Commission ceased requiring this.

"Overwhelmingly the practice would stay just as it is," he said. "That companies' behaviors are wildly distorted by short-termism is certainly true in some cases but it's not a system-wide phenomenon," according to Reuters.

Global Times