Chinese small-cap firms listed in the US have seen their shares dragged down by a drip of scandals in unrelated companies. More than a dozen Chinese firms have been suspended from trading in the US amid accusations of fraud and mismanagement. Many other US-listed Chinese small-caps are under a cloud of suspicion, and trading at low price/earnings multiples compared with peers listed in Hong Kong or Shanghai.

Mark Tobin, of Roth Capital Partners, notes that Hollysys Automation Technologies, a company that produces control systems for train networks, trades at a forward P/E ratio of 11.2 on the Nasdaq Stock Market, compared with a ratio of 18.7 for Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric, a competitor listed in Hong Kong. QKL Stores, a food retailer listed on Nasdaq, commands a P/E ratio of 10.9 compared with 16.8 for Beijing Jingkelong, a similar firm listed in Hong Kong.