BEIJING: China has rolled out a series of countermeasures against a slew of US firms on the first working day after the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and Ministry of Finance (MOF) unveiled separate restrictive measures targeting US entities on the same day, a move that a Chinese expert said was aimed at responding to Washington’s groundless practice of arbitrarily blacklisting Chinese companies.
The measures are a response to Washington’s repeated weaponization of unilateral sanctions and entity lists to suppress Chinese enterprises, including its groundless addition of Chinese firms to its so-called military-industrial entity list, the expert added.
China has added 10 US entities to its export control list in accordance with the nation’s export control law and regulations on export control of dual-use items, according to an announcement issued by the MOFCOM on Monday.
Exporters are barred from exporting dual-use items to the listed entities, while institutions and individuals from any country and region are prohibited from transferring or supplying dual-use items of Chinese origin to these entities, it said.
Any export demand arising from special, genuine necessity must acquire approval from MOFCOM. The announcement took effect immediately upon release, according to the statement.
The listed companies, spanning from aerospace, defense, robotics, maritime services and rare earths sectors, include Aveox, Red Cat Holdings, Teal Drones, IMSAR, Jaia Robotics, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp, Oshkosh Defense, L3Harris Maritime Services, MP Materials Corp, and USA Rare Earth.
In a separate statement, a spokesperson for the MOFCOM said that the measure was taken following the “malicious” practice of the US government in adding more Chinese firms to a so-called list of companies linked to the Chinese military, in accordance with the Export Control Law and relevant regulations on dual-use items, and is aimed at safeguarding national security and interests, and fulfilling international obligations such as non-proliferation.
Meanwhile, the MOF announced that it has decided to take relevant measures against 46 US companies in government procurement activities in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.
Under the measures, procuring entities in government procurement activities are prohibited from purchasing products manufactured by the 46 US companies, excluding products manufactured by US-funded enterprises operating in China.
The restricted US companies include Lockheed Martin Corporation, Raytheon Missiles & Defense, Boeing Defense and Space & Security. The notice took effect on the date of issuance, said MOF.
China’s control measures feature well-defined boundaries, targeting only items tied to military supplies and military manufacturing. In stark contrast, the US arbitrarily broadens its crackdown scope, fabricating fictitious military links for companies with zero military relevance as an excuse to target China’s high-tech sector, Li Yong, an executive council member of the China Society for WTO Studies, told the Global Times on Monday.
Song Guoyou, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, added that the measures can be understood as a concrete step to safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese entities and companies. –The Daily Mail-Global Times news exchange item
