China threatens with its own blacklist of firms after Huawei ban

In its latest retaliation against the US after it blacklisted Chinese tech company Huawei, China said on Friday that it would establish a list of so-called “unreliable" entities that harm national companies.

China’s own blacklist is a sweeping order that could potentially affect thousands of foreign enterprises. Beijing will determine whether the foreign companies obey market rules, violate contracts and block, cut off supply for non-commercial reasons or severely damage the legitimate interests of Chinese companies.

Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng made the announcement and added that it was a necessary measure against those on the list which were deemed unreliable.

The decision from Beijing was prompted by the US administration’s recent moves to sharply restrict Huawei’s ability to sell equipment in the US or to buy parts from American suppliers.

Washington was also asking allies not to involve the Chinese tech giant in the development of their new 5G mobile networks.

These actions could cripple one of China’s most successful companies and authorities in Beijing were interpreting it as a direct attack on their country, just as negotiations had broke down.

The latest move from Beijing, which was first reported by Chinese state media, could allow Chinese officials to target a broad swathe of the global tech industry, including US companies such as Alphabet, Qualcomm and Intel or non-American suppliers that have cut off China’s largest technology company.

The list will also target companies that "pose a threat or potential threat to national security," Gao said.

"[The list will] protect international economic and trade rules and the multilateral trading system, oppose unilateralism and trade protectionism, and safeguard China’s national security, social and public interests.”