Chinese artificial intelligence company iFlytek displays its advanced products such as translation devices and intelligent office tablets during the Australia-China Economic and Trade Investment Expo 2019 held in Melbourne from Friday to Sunday. Demand for iFlytek's translation devices, which have brought convenience for Chinese traveling or living in Australia, exceeds supply. Photo: VCG

China's voice recognition technology company iFlyTek has filed for an exemption from the US Entity List, in order to purchase medical equipment from the US amid the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) crisis, according to the company's statement on the website of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. 

The company has already entrusted the filing, which will be taken to the US Department of Commerce, to local lawyers, the statement said, but so far progress has been limited, the company told the Global Times on Monday.

The company is seeking an exemption because it is making charitable donations of medical supplies that are in dire shortage, including medical protection outfits and face masks. 

These supplies are currently on the list of items not allowed to be sold to iFlyTek, according to a company statement sent to the Global Times. 

Outside the US, the company has started purchasing medical supplies from South Korea, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the company said.

iFlyTek was put on the US Entity List in October 2019, among other 27 Chinese entities during the trade war, and it has been barred from buying technology equipment and devices made in the US.

It is also one of the tech companies in China that are working to curb the spread of the disease. Other companies, including Meituan, Alibaba and Tencent have been mobilized to use their technology and make donations of medical supplies, including face masks, to help contain the virus' spread. 

"It is a time of emergency, and medical supplies are short in the most severely affected areas," Tian Yun, vice director of the Beijing Economic Operation Association, said. "If the Chinese companies can purchase those supplies in the US, the US should make the exemption for humanitarian reasons."

As one of the blacklisted companies, iFlyTek switched to non-US supply chains after the ban, according to the company statement, so despite being barred from doing business with US companies, iFlyTek's growth has remained healthy. 

In October 2019, right after appearing on the Entity List, iFlyTek announced positive revenue for the first three quarters of the year standing at 6.5 billion yuan ($930 million), increasing 24.42 percent compared with the same period in 2018.

Global Times