US Adds Alibaba, Baidu, BYD and Nio to Chinese Military List

The United States has added Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, internet search provider Baidu and electric car makers BYD and Nio to a list of companies it says are aiding Beijing’s military, in a move that could further inflame tensions between the US and China.

The updated list, released on Monday, broadens the range of companies Washington considers part of China’s military-industrial base. It includes chipmakers CXMT and YMTC, biotech firm WuXi AppTec, AI-driven robotics company RoboSense and Unitree, a leading Chinese maker of humanoid and quadruped robots.

The Pentagon said the listed firms qualify for designation as “Chinese military companies” operating in the US. The companies can petition for removal from the list.

Alibaba said there was “no basis” for its inclusion and added that it was not a Chinese military company or part of any military-civil fusion strategy. WuXi AppTec said its inclusion was “incorrect”, while Baidu called the suggestion that it was a military company “entirely baseless”. All three said they would challenge the designation.

China’s embassy in Washington criticized the move and said Beijing opposed “making discriminatory lists to go after Chinese companies”. It called on the US to stop what it described as a wrongful practice and create a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese firms.

Although inclusion on the list does not formally impose sanctions, the US Department of Defense will be barred from contracting directly with listed companies from later this month. From 2027, it will also be prohibited from buying their products or services through third parties.

Analysts said the update was another sign that Washington increasingly sees China’s technology sector as a strategic security threat. The move comes less than a month after US President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, where the two leaders maintained a fragile trade war truce.

(reuters, max)