US blacklists BYD, Baidu, and AliExpress owner in major China crackdown
Baidu company logo (Photo: Getty Images)
The US has officially designated corporate giants Alibaba, BYD, and Baidu as companies that support the Chinese military. This decision significantly expands Washington’s blacklist and puts China’s best-known commercial brands at risk, according to The Washington Post, the BBC, and Al Jazeera.
The Pentagon has once again updated its list of Chinese companies, which now includes 188 firms from the PRC. Among the well‑known and popular companies on the list are TP‑Link and Huawei. Washington believes that the firms on the list cooperate with the Chinese military, so US government contracts are under serious threat from them.
Interestingly, the White House has made a significant leap, as the blacklist for 2025 included only 134 companies from China.
This time, among the companies known to Ukrainians are:
- Alibaba (owner of the marketplaces AliExpress, Taobao, Tmall, and the cloud service Alibaba Cloud);
- BYD (the world’s largest manufacturer of electric vehicles and batteries, BYD Auto);
- Baidu (owner of China’s main search engine, Baidu Maps, and AI developments).
What exactly are Washington’s claims against these companies?
The US Department of Defense identifies these firms as being owned or controlled by the Chinese military. Washington’s main complaint is that they facilitate Beijing’s military‑civilian fusion strategy. This PRC program envisions merging civilian and defense research to strengthen the army.
The list does not constitute direct sanctions. However, it often becomes the first step toward export controls and a full federal ban on procurement.
What is the reaction from China and the companies themselves?
Beijing responded immediately: China’s embassy in Washington called the actions discriminatory. A spokesperson for the embassy said that Chinese companies doing business abroad strictly comply with the laws of the host countries. He called on the US to stop its wrongful practice.
Alibaba was also quick to respond. The company denies any connection to the military.
"We are not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy. We will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company," an Alibaba spokesperson said.
Will the "blacklist" actually hinder China’s giants?
National security expert Dennis Wilder doubts the effectiveness of such broad measures. He believes many American firms already have deep ties with these giants.
"Many US firms already have deep relationships with these entities that they are not going to give up unless there are real penalties attached to working commercial deals with them," Wilder noted.
What is known about sanctions against China?
The EU plans to hit Chinese companies that help the Russian army with sanctions. Not only Beijing is targeted: firms from the UAE and Turkey are also on the list.
At the same time, China is threatening the EU with mirror sanctions over the "Made in Europe" law, which it considers discriminatory.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s defense industry cannot yet give up components from China. For now, China remains the most accessible market in terms of scale and speed, but the goal is to reduce critical dependence.
