A Chinese Autonomous Driving Start-Up Is About to Go Public in the U.S.

One of China’s leading autonomous driving start-ups is set to go public in New York as soon as this week, with the strained relationship between Beijing and Washington lurking in the background.

WeRide, which makes software that powers driverless vehicles, has given potential investors an extensive list of the many ways geopolitics could damage their investment.

Export controls on Chinese firms by the U.S. government could limit WeRide’s access to advanced semiconductors. One WeRide supplier has been designated a “Chinese military company,” which could complicate its supply chain if restrictions escalate. A crackdown on Chinese autonomous vehicle companies could curb WeRide’s ability to use its technology in America.

The Chinese government, the company also said, “has significant oversight and discretion over the conduct of our business, and may intervene or influence our operations.”

Any investment in a seven-year-old startup in a nascent industry carries risk, but not always of the sandwiched-between-two-superpowers variety. Shares in WeRide are set to trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

WeRide, headquartered in Guangzhou, is among a wave of Chinese electric vehicle and automotive technology companies turning to American financial markets for capital to fund their global ambitions, even as Washington enacts policies to freeze them out of the American market.