U.S. DoD Lists Chinese Military Companies in Accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act

The U.S. Department of Defense today listed Chinese military companies operating directly or indirectly in the country in accordance with the statutory requirement of Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.

The Department is determined to highlight and counter the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) Military-Civil Fusion development strategy, which supports the modernization 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. Section 1260H directs the Department to begin identifying, among other things, Military-Civil Fusion contributors operating directly or indirectly in the U.S.

The list includes Chinese state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Limited (CASIC), China Electronics Corporation (CEC), China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), Huawei and some companies dealing with semiconductors among others.

Biden Order Names 59 Chinese companies banning U.S. Investments in them

Biden signed an order Thursday amending a ban on US investment in Chinese companies begun under his predecessor, naming 59 firms with ties to China’s military or in the surveillance industry, including Huawei Technologies and the country’s three biggest telecommunications companies, according to Bloomberg.

The ban on new investments will take effect August 2. Investors will have one year to divest.

 “Biden is not only maintaining but also expanding policies on Chinese firms in his predecessor’s period, and one of the current aims is seeking a more comprehensive and in-depth strategy to compete with China,” Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of China Foreign Affairs University,  Global Times reported on Friday.

China vowed to take necessary measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, in response to media reports that Biden plans to add more Chinese companies on a blacklist created by his predecessor.