The BYD Pentagon military list has grown substantially, with the US Department of Defense adding BYD, Alibaba, Baidu and dozens of other Chinese companies to its Section 1260H register of firms said to have ties to China’s military, according to an announcement posted on the Federal Register on Monday.
The expanded list, which according to Small Wars Journal now encompasses 188 Chinese firms, is designed to alert American organisations to the risks of doing business with the named companies. Inclusion on the list does not trigger immediate sanctions, but it carries reputational and commercial consequences for firms operating in or with the United States.
The Pentagon list names more than 80 companies it classifies as “Chinese military companies” that are directly or indirectly engaged in providing commercial services for the US. Among the sectors represented are electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, aerospace and consumer technology.
Basis for the BYD Pentagon military list designations
The criteria behind the Section 1260H designations go beyond direct contracts with China’s armed forces. According to CNBC, listed companies are deemed affiliated with China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and designated as “military-civil fusion” contributors to China’s defence industrial base through ties to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Alibaba, BYD and Baidu were among those accused of serving as military-civil contributors to Chinese defence operations.
Policy analyst Stefanie Kam from the Nanyang Technological University told the BBC that the US appears to have flagged these companies for their participation in state programmes, rather than on the basis of clear evidence of contracts with the Chinese military. Kam added that Beijing will likely view the move as a “form of economic containment.”
This is not the first time the DoD has expanded the list. Morgan Lewis reported that the Department of Defense added a number of entities to its register of Chinese military companies on 2 January 2025, underscoring a pattern of incremental expansion that has continued with Monday’s announcement.
Companies push back and China calls the list discriminatory
Several of the newly listed firms have rejected the designation outright. Alibaba’s spokesperson said the company is “not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy” and warned that it “will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company.” A spokesperson for Baidu said there is “no credible justification” for its inclusion and that it will “use all options available” to have its name struck off. The BBC contacted BYD and several other firms on the list for comment; BYD had not responded at the time of publication.
The Chinese embassy in Washington told the BBC that the list is “discriminatory” and said Chinese firms have strictly complied with the laws of the countries in which they operate.
Other Chinese companies added include electric vehicle maker Nio and aircraft manufacturer Comac. Companies already on the list, among them Tencent, Huawei, drone producer DJI and battery maker CATL, remain designated. In 2019, Washington barred US firms from doing business with Huawei over national security concerns linked to its equipment; Huawei has denied that its products present security risks and says it is independent from the Chinese government.
BYD’s position in the global automotive market makes its inclusion particularly pointed. The company surpassed Tesla earlier this year to become the world’s top EV maker, though it does not currently export cars to the United States.
Kam told the BBC that China could retaliate by imposing tit-for-tat sanctions, adding American firms to a list of its own, or pursuing diplomatic pushback. With 188 firms now named on the Section 1260H list, the scope of Washington’s concerns about commercial engagement with Chinese state-linked enterprises is broader than at any previous point in the register’s history.
