US Department of Defense classifies Alibaba, BYD, and Baidu as Chinese military companies

Alibaba described its inclusion on the US list as a "Fehler" and announced legal action. Baidu rejected the classification as a supporter of the Chinese military as "völlig unbegründet". In the past, some Chinese companies had already sued over their inclusion on the list. A number of companies therefore already protested and in some cases announced legal action.

Political reactions in Washington and Beijing

John Moolenaar, the Republican congressman and chairman of the US House of Representatives Select Committee on China, described the list as a political signal. "Diese aktualisierte Liste chinesischer Militärunternehmen ist eine Warnung an amerikanische Unternehmen, alle Regierungsebenen und die amerikanische Bevölkerung", Moolenaar said. He called on American companies to "keine Geschäfte mehr mit diesen Bedrohungen für unsere nationale Sicherheit zu tätigen", as they would otherwise risk "Chinas militärischen Aufstieg zu begünstigen". The House Select Committee on China, which takes a strongly critical stance on China, called in a statement on US companies to end business relationships with the listed companies.

The Chinese government reacted sharply to the publication. A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Lin Jian, said on Tuesday that Beijing firmly rejects the "ungerechtfertigte Unterdrückung chinesischer Unternehmen". China would "die notwendigen Maßnahmen ergreifen, um die legitimen Rechte und Interessen chinesischer Unternehmen entschlossen zu schützen", and called on Washington to "seine fehlerhaften Praktiken korrigieren". The Chinese Embassy in the US had previously accused the US of "das Konzept der nationalen Sicherheit zu weit auszudehnen" and of creating discriminatory lists to take action against Chinese companies. Chinese companies had complied with the laws and regulations of the countries in which they do business.

US government rationale and background

The US government justified the inclusion with the criteria for classification as "chinesische Militärunternehmen". The companies met these criteria and were active in the United States, the US Department of Defense said. The list captures companies on which military organizations can exert direct or indirect influence or that are part of military-civil fusion. In addition, the companies must be active in the US. The majority of listings are justified by ties to state bodies such as the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) or the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

Trade war and recent diplomatic rapprochement

The release comes less than a month after a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese head of state Xi Jinping in Beijing. Relations between the world's two largest economies have long been strained. After his re-inauguration in early 2025, Trump had triggered a bitter trade war with China through special tariffs, with mutual import surcharges at times rising to as much as 145 percent. In October, both sides agreed on a preliminary pause in the dispute. A return visit by Xi to Washington is planned for the fall.

As early as January 2026, the Department of Defense had published an updated list, only to withdraw it shortly thereafter without giving reasons. In February, a renewed attempt followed, which was also quickly withdrawn, although there was criticism that the first version of the list did not name CXMT and YMTC. The two chipmakers ChangXin Memory Technologies and Yangtze Memory Technologies had been removed in February and are now included again. In contrast to the February version, the new version contains the leading Chinese memory chipmakers CXMT and YMTC. There were reports that HP and Dell could qualify CXMT memory. The inclusion on the list is seen as a step that could precede further punitive measures and could lead to new disruptions in the bilateral relationship between the world's two largest economies.