WASHINGTON, Feb 13 — The United States (US) has added some of China's biggest companies, including Alibaba and Baidu, to a list of firms allegedly aiding China's military, ratcheting up pressure on Beijing ahead of an expected meeting between the two countries' leaders.
The Pentagon's 1260H list has not formally imposed sanctions on Chinese firms, but under a new law, the department will be prevented from contracting with or procuring from companies on the list in the coming years.
Other additions on Friday included automaker BYD, biotech firm WuXi AppTec, and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven robotics technology company RoboSense Technology Co Ltd, while chip memory maker YMTC was removed.
Being added to the list also sends a message to suppliers to the Pentagon and other US government agencies about the US military's opinion of the firms, some of which have sued the US over their inclusion.
An Alibaba spokesman said there was no basis for their inclusion and threatened legal action.
"Alibaba is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy," the spokesman said.
Updating the list could antagonise Beijing following a trade truce reached by China’s Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump in October last year.
The list already includes major Chinese firms like Tencent Holdings, one of China's largest tech companies, and CATL, a major battery maker in the electric vehicle industry.
At the time it was added, Tencent said its business would be unaffected and would initiate a reconsideration process to correct its inclusion, while CATL said it was "not engaged in any military-related activities".
American lawmakers sent a letter to US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth in December 2025, urging the Pentagon to add a slew of Chinese technology firms, including AI firm DeepSeek, smartphone maker Xiaomi, and electronic display maker BOE Technology, to the list.
Apart from YMTC, some other companies named on last year's list were removed, including COSCO SHIPPING Finance Co Ltd and ChangXin Memory Technologies Inc (CXMT).
