Foreign firms attempting a takeover or merger that might affect national security must get a stamp of approval from a little-known group called the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, a panel of representatives from across the government run by the Treasury Department from its grand building on Pennsylvania Avenue, next to the White House.

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"To list, you have to get approval from a state listing committee, " says Jia Yan, a China specialist with the Wall Street law firm Paul, Weiss.

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