The US Defense Department on June 8 updated a list of Chinese companies it said support Beijing’s military, naming Alibaba, Baidu, BYD, WuXi AppTec, a China-based biotech company, and RoboSense Technology Co Ltd, a China-based maker of AI-driven sensing and robotics technology.

The roster is the Pentagon’s annual required list under Section 1260H of the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. It covers companies the department deems “Chinese military companies” operating directly or indirectly in the US.

The designation does not itself impose sanctions or automatically bar US firms from dealing with the listed companies.

But Section 805 of the Fiscal Year 2024 National Defense Authorization Act will take effect in stages, barring the Defense Department from procuring listed firms’ goods, services, and technology directly from June 2026, and indirectly from June 2027.

A similar version published in February was later withdrawn after an agency request. The notice said the document would remain on public inspection through February 17.

Listed companies can challenge the designation through a Pentagon reconsideration process or in court, and the list remains separate from Treasury investment restrictions and Commerce export controls.

🔗 Source: Reuters

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