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China’s Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) have rolled out separate restrictive measures targeting US military related entities on the same day, hitting back at Washington’s groundless practice of arbitrarily blacklisting Chinese firms, a Chinese expert said.

China added 10 US entities to its export control list, according to an announcement issued by MOFCOM on Monday. This regulatory move is in accordance with the Export Control Law and relevant regulations on dual-use item exports.

“The move is in response to the US move to expand its so-called China military-industrial entity list and is aimed at protecting China’s national security and honor non-proliferation commitments,” a spokesperson of the MOFCOM said.

Under the new rules, all Chinese exporters are barred from supplying dual-use items to the listed entities, while institutions and individuals worldwide are prohibited from transferring or providing China-made dual-use goods to them, with all ongoing relevant export transactions required to be suspended without delay. 

Any export demand arising from special, genuine necessity must acquire approval from the MOFCOM. The announcement took effect immediately upon release, according to the statement.

The 10 US companies are 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.

On the same day, China's Ministry of Finance 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 US-funded enterprises in China.

The restricted US companies include Lockheed Martin Corporation, Raytheon Missiles & Defense, Boeing Defense, Space & Security, among others. The notice took effect on the date of issuance, said the ministry.

The two measures unveiled on the same day 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. If such US malpractices are left uncurbed, they will only escalate, Li Yong, an executive council member of the China Society for WTO Studies, told the Global Times on Monday. 

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 said.

Several Chinese companies, including Alibaba, BYD, Baidu and WuXi AppTec, have rejected their inclusion on a so-called US list alleging links to Chinese military, calling the designation baseless and factually inaccurate. 

Li said the US expanded list, which now covers leading Chinese firms across multiple sectors, represents a politically motivated and economically biased move of the US, reflecting Washington's attempt to curb the growth of China's technology companies under the guise of national security. China has to push back and rectify Washington’s misguided pan-securitization approach, he said.