By Xie Yu

HONG KONG, (Reuters) – Three people who are familiar with the situation told Reuters that U.S. regulator officials arrived in Beijing to resolve a dispute about the compliance auditing of U.S. listed Chinese companies.

If the standoff is not solved, Chinese companies could be kicked out of New York’s bourses. This week the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission added over 80 firms, including JD (NASDAQ:).com and China Petroleum (NYSE:) & Chemical Corp to the list of companies facing possible expulsion.

According to people, talks between U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board officials and counterparts from China Securities Regulatory Commission can be called a ‘late-stage’ stage after China has made concessions over recent months.

According to one person, the PCAOB team is likely to be released from quarantine and resume work next week. According to the person, if this visit is successful, the PCAOB may send a larger team to China to perform on-site inspections with local auditors later in the year.

Due to the sensitive nature of the matter, the sources could not be identified. Reuters did not reach out to the CSRC and PCAOB for comment.

China has long been wary of allowing foreign auditors to inspect its local accounting firms. They cite national security concerns.

As Friday approaches, 128 Chinese businesses have been flagged by the PCAOB as in danger of being removed from the market.