Pentagon Withdraws List of Chinese Military Companies

The Pentagon has pulled its new Chinese Military Companies list, an annual roster of companies it suspects are aiding the Chinese regime’s military buildup. The list briefly went up on Feb. 13 on the Federal Register before it was removed at the agency’s request.

The list included Chinese tech giants Alibaba, Baidu, BYD, WuXi AppTec, RoboSense Technology, and Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp. (YMTC).

The Pentagon did not provide a reason in its letter requesting the list’s removal. The Pentagon could not be reached immediately for comment.

Since 1999, the Pentagon has been required by law to maintain a list of Chinese military companies, and in 2021, an executive order updated that requirement to a broader list including companies believed to be part of the Chinese military-industrial complex.

Until 2024, the companies on the list did not face any penalties, but since 2024, the U.S. military has been prohibited from awarding new contracts to companies on the list.

There is no formal process for removal from the list, and an Alibaba spokesperson said the company may take legal action.

“Alibaba is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy,” the spokesperson said.

Alibaba is one of the world’s largest e-retailers, and its stocks dipped after the Pentagon’s list was briefly published. Baidu, a Chinese internet and artificial intelligence (AI) company, similarly experienced a decrease in share prices on the morning of Feb. 13.

BYD is a Chinese automaker specializing in electric vehicles, and WuXi AppTec is one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical developers. Congress has sought the blacklisting of the biotech company, which not only has a sizable presence in the United States but also contracts with international companies for drug testing, development, and manufacturing.

RoboSense is an AI robotics company that makes robotic lawn mowers and humanoid robots. YMTC is a semiconductor manufacturing company and has previously sued the Pentagon over its placement on the Chinese Military Companies list in 2024, stating that it has no ties to the Chinese military.

Tech giant Tencent and batterymaker CATL were also on the updated list, after appearing in previous years. CATL has also taken legal action seeking removal from the list.

Lawmakers have pushed for the inclusion of many major Chinese tech companies on the list in recent years, arguing that the Chinese communist regime’s strategy of “military-civil fusion” means that all Chinese companies are required to serve the regime’s strategic goals.

Reuters contributed to this report.