The city's stock exchange is resisting pressure to strengthen corporate governance rules despite a recent slew of auditors resigning from Hong Kong-listed firms.
Charles Li Xiaojia, chief executive of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx), said HKEx would not rush to enact new rules on corporate governance simply because of that.
But the exchange would review its rules occasionally to ensure they keep pace with market developments, Li said.
Daqing Dairy is the latest in a series of Hong Kong-listed firms whose auditor has resigned.
The mainland dairy firm's stock was suspended yesterday, pending an announcement on the resignation of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, its auditor.
Daqing shares have fallen by 21.1 per cent from HK$2.13 on March 13 to HK$1.68 yesterday. Deloitte, one of the 'Big Four' accounting firms, quit as auditor of another Hong Kong-listed firm, Boshiwa International, on March 13. The mainland retailer of children's garments and shoes said Deloitte was dissatisfied with certain information and explanations it had provided.
In a subsequent announcement, Boshiwa publicised a portion of Deloitte's resignation letter, which expressed concern over 392 million yuan (HK$480 million) of prepayments to a supplier.