WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday added Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, internet search provider Baidu, and automakers BYD and NIO to a list of companies it believes are aiding Beijing’s military, in a move that could inflame tensions between the countries.

The long-awaited update supersedes a list from early 2025, and comes less than a month after US President Donald Trump met China’s Xi Jinping on a visit to Beijing, where the two leaders maintained a delicate trade war truce.

China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the list was discriminatory and “unreasonably suppressed” Chinese companies, urging the US to “correct its mistaken practices.”

The list now includes a broad swathe of China’s top technology firms key to advancing Beijing’s military and industrial prowess, reflecting Washington’s security concerns amid intense geopolitical competition between the countries.

Beijing terms move ‘discriminatory’ and ‘unreasonably suppressed’

In February, when Trump’s trip to China had been pending, the Pentagon briefly posted an updated list, known as the 1260H or CMC list, but then quickly withdrew it with little explanation.

The new version released on Monday mirrors the withdrawn February list with the exception of the inclusion of China’s top memory chipmakers CXMT and YMTC, two companies that had been removed from the short-lived February index to the ire of Washington’s China hawks.

YMTC said that it was deeply disappointed by the inclusion and that “despite years of engagement with US authorities, efforts to address concerns, and a demonstrated commitment to compliance,” the chipmaker continued to face various forms of sanctions “likely driven by anticompetitive motive rather than national security concerns.”

Other companies added include biotech firm WuXi AppTec , AI-driven robotics company RoboSense Technology Co Ltd and Unitree, a leading Chinese maker of humanoid and quadruped robots. On June 1, US AI chipmaker Nvidia said it plans to work with Unitree to build robots for researchers.

Though the list does not formally impose sanctions on Chinese firms, under recent US law the Defence Department will be prohibited starting later this month from contracting directly with companies on the list, and from buying their products or services via third parties beginning in 2027.

Those measures could have material costs for the Chinese firms and their partners.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2026