US adds Alibaba and others to list of firms allegedly aiding China's military

By Michael Martina and Alexandra Alper

WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Friday added some of China's biggest companies, including Alibaba 9988.HK and Baidu 9888.HK, to a list of firms allegedly aiding China's military, ratcheting up pressure on Beijing ahead of an expected meeting between to 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 in coming years from contracting and procuring from companies on the list.

Other additions on Friday included automaker BYD 002594.SZ, biotech firm WuXi AppTec 603259.SS and AI-driven robotics technology company RoboSense Technology Co Ltd 2498.HK, while chip memory maker YMTC was removed.

Being added to the list also sends a message to suppliers to the Pentagon and other U.S. government agencies about the U.S. military's opinion of the firms, some of which have sued the U.S. over their inclusion.

An Alibaba spokesperson 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."

Updating the list could antagonize Beijing following a trade truce reached by China’s Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump in October.

The list already includes major Chinese firms such as Tencent Holdings 0700.HK, one of China's largest tech companies, and CATL, a major battery maker in the electric vehicle industry.

Tencent said at the time it was added that its business would be unaffected and that it would initiate a reconsideration process to correct its inclusion, while CATL said it was "not engaged in any military-related activities".

U.S. lawmakers sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth 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 in December.

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).