WASHINGTON: The US on Monday (Jun 8) added Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, internet search provider Baidu and automaker BYD to a list of companies it believes are aiding Beijing’s military, in a move that could inflame tensions between the countries.
The long-awaited update supersedes a list from early 2025, and comes less than a month after President Donald Trump met China’s Xi Jinping on a visit to Beijing, where the two leaders maintained a delicate trade war truce.
The list now includes a broad swathe of China’s top technology firms key to advancing Beijing’s military and industrial prowess, reflecting Washington’s security concerns amid intense geopolitical competition between the countries.
In February, when Trump’s trip to China had been pending, the Pentagon briefly posted an updated list, known as the 1260H or CMC list, but then quickly withdrew it with little explanation.
The new version released on Monday mirrors the withdrawn February list with the exception of the inclusion of China’s top memory chipmakers CXMT and YMTC, two companies that had been removed from the short-lived February index to the ire of Washington’s China hawks.
Other companies added include biotech firm WuXi AppTec, AI-driven robotics company RoboSense Technology Co Ltd and Unitree, a leading Chinese maker of humanoid and quadruped robots. On Jun 1, US AI chipmaker Nvidia said it plans to work with Unitree to build robots for researchers.
China’s embassy in Washington said Beijing opposed “making discriminatory lists to go after Chinese companies”, and that its firms observe local laws and regulations.
“The US should stop its wrong practice and create a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies,” an embassy spokesperson said in a statement.
Some companies, including two entities owned by Chinese state-owned oil major China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) – CNOOC China Ltd and CNOOC International Trading – were removed.
However, CNOOC subsidiary China BlueChemical Limited was added, and the department filing noted that CNOOC is directly controlled by China’s government.
Companies can at times be taken off, not because the US determines they aren’t linked to China’s military, but because they no longer operate in the US or because an entity’s name has changed.
Alibaba, Baidu, CXMT, YMTC, Unitree, CNOOC and Nvidia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.