China said on Saturday that it strongly opposes the United States adding several prominent Chinese companies to its military companies list, saying the move disregarded an agreement reached by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at their summit last month.
The Pentagon added on Monday several non-state-owned Chinese companies — including electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, and technology giants Alibaba and Baidu — to its list, which seeks to identify Chinese companies it believes have ties to the Chinese military, barring them from obtaining US defence contracts.
A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Saturday that by adding those companies to the list, "the American side disregarded the agreement reached by the leaders of the two countries in Beijing."
The spokesperson added: "The United States has disregarded the overall interests of bilateral economic and trade relations, has continuously expanded the concept of national security, and has abused state power to unreasonably suppress Chinese companies."