US expands list of ‘Communist Chinese military companies'

The US Department of Defense (DoD) has identified four additional Chinese corporations that it claims have links to China’s military. The companies’ inclusion on the list of ‘Communist Chinese military companies’ means that US investors will be prevented from buying stock in the firms from January 2021.

The new list, which takes the number of blacklisted Chinese companies to 35, features corporations that are known primarily for operations in commercial domains. They include the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China Construction Technology Company (CCTC), China International Engineering Consulting Corporation (CIECC), and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

The US DoD has identified additional Chinese corporations that it says are linked to the Chinese military. The identification means US investors will be barred from purchasing stock in the firms. (Getty Images)

The DoD said these firms’ inclusion on the list is aligned with US efforts to tackle China’s military-civil fusion (MCF) strategy, which seeks to adopt advanced commercial technologies for military gains.

It said, “The [DoD] is determined to highlight and counter the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) military-civil fusion development strategy, which supports the modernisation goals of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) by ensuring its access to advanced technologies and expertise acquired and developed by even those PRC companies, universities, and research programs that appear to be civilian entities.”

The DoD added that the list of Chinese companies will continue to be updated “with additional entities as appropriate”.

In response to the listing, China’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on 4 December that the move constituted a “groundless suppression”.