The US Department of Defense says Tencent and other Chinese companies have ties to the Chinese military

The US Department of Defense has added dozens of Chinese companies, including gaming and technology company Tencent, artificial intelligence company SenseTime, and the world’s largest battery maker CATL, to a list of companies it says have ties to the Chinese military.

In recent years, Washington has sought to restrict the exchange of advanced technology, including semiconductors and artificial intelligence, considering them a threat to national security.

The US Department of Defense updates its list of “Chinese Military Companies” or CMC list annually. At its latest review, it includes 134 companies. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2024 prohibits the Department of Defense from doing business with the listed companies as of June 2026.

Tencent shares traded in Hong Kong fell 7.3% on Tuesday and the company said it would “begin a reconsideration process to correct this wrong,” seek talks with the US Department of Defense and, if necessary, take legal action to remove it from the list. Tencent is the world’s largest video game company and operates the Chinese messaging platform WeChat.

The companies will seek to overturn the decision

“Given that the company is neither a Chinese military company nor a shareholder in the military-civilian integration of the Chinese defense industrial base, it believes its listing on the CMC is a mistake,” Tencent said in an announcement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

“Unlike other lists maintained by the US government for sanctions or export control measures, inclusion on the CMC list relates only to US defense procurement, which does not impact the group’s business,” it said.

Battery maker CATL said in a statement posted on its website that the company “has never been involved in any military-related business or activities” and said the designation would not have a negative impact on its operations.

Like Tencent, CATL maintains that its inclusion on the list was a “mistake” and that it will proactively engage with the Pentagon to “address the misclassification” and take legal action if necessary to protect the interests of the company and its stakeholders. CATL shares fell 2.84% in Shenzhen.

Artificial intelligence company SenseTime said in a statement that the decision to include it on the list “has no factual basis.”

“We strongly disagree with it,” the SenseTime statement said, adding that the decision “has no material impact on our global operations.”

“SenseTime remains strongly committed to working collaboratively with relevant stakeholders to address this matter, and protect the interests of the company and our shareholders,” the company said.

During a daily press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiaqun urged the United States to “immediately correct its wrong practices, and lift the illegal unilateral sanctions and long-standing jurisdiction imposed on Chinese companies.”

“China consistently and resolutely opposes the United States expanding the concept of national security, creating discriminatory lists under various pretexts, and unjustifiably suppressing Chinese enterprises, which hinders China’s high-quality development,” Guo said.