Pentagon Adds Alibaba, BYD and Baidu to Its List of Chinese Military Companies

The Pentagon on Monday added several of China's most prominent companies — including e-commerce giant Alibaba, electric-vehicle maker BYD and search engine Baidu — to its list of firms it says support the Chinese military, a move that bars them from securing U.S. defense contracts and ratchets up economic tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The designations came in an update to the Defense Department's so-called 1260H list, which identifies "Chinese military companies." This year's roster grew to 188 entities, up from roughly 130 named last year. Newly added names also included automaker NIO, pharmaceutical services firm WuXi AppTec and the robotics company Unitree, signaling that the Pentagon is increasingly willing to target well-known, non-state-owned firms that are not traditionally considered part of China's defense or security sector.

In explaining the additions, the Pentagon said Alibaba helps bolster China's defense industrial base because it is affiliated with the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the body that oversees Beijing's technology and industrial policies. It said BYD and Baidu are affiliated with the same ministry. Some of the companies had appeared briefly in a version of the list posted in February before it was withdrawn minutes later without explanation.

The targeted firms pushed back forcefully. "Alibaba is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy," the company said in a statement. BYD said it "is not a military enterprise" and that the determination "seriously contradicts the facts." Baidu likewise rejected its inclusion. Being placed on the list does not impose immediate sanctions, but it carries reputational weight, complicates business with the U.S. government and can foreshadow tighter restrictions.

The action lands at a delicate moment in U.S.-China relations, with the two governments locked in disputes over trade, advanced semiconductors and access to critical minerals. The 1260H list has become a key instrument in Washington's effort to slow what officials describe as China's "military-civil fusion" — the blurring of lines between commercial enterprises and the People's Liberation Army.

For companies such as Alibaba and BYD, which have global ambitions and large international footprints, the designation threatens to chill partnerships with American firms wary of being entangled with entities Washington has flagged. Analysts said the expansion of the list to mainstream consumer brands marks an escalation, and Beijing is likely to view it as further evidence of U.S. efforts to contain China's economic and technological rise — raising the prospect of retaliatory measures.