China has criticised a US decision to ban the Chinese arms of the big four global auditing firms from working for US-listed companies, adding fuel to a longstanding dispute over foreign access to Chinese financial information.

An administrative trial judge with the US Securities and Exchange Commission ruled this week that the four joint ventures – Ernst & Young Hua Ming, KPMG Huazhen, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and PwC Zhong Tian – had violated US rules by failing to give US regulators audit documents of Chinese companies under investigation for accounting fraud.

The judge recommended that the Chinese affiliates of the big four be suspended from auditing US-listed Chinese companies for six months, a threat that has knocked nearly 10 per cent off the share prices of Chinese companies ranging from search engine operator Baidu to travel website Qunar.