China To Add Apple And Qualcomm To Its Own Entity List

Around this time last year, the US first added Huawei to its entity list, putting it in its current situation. A little later, reports surfaced regarding China possibly coming up with its own blacklist of sorts. Seemingly nothing came of it since, until now. Following the US’ extension of its sanctions on Huawei, new reports of China considering responding in kind has surfaced again.

Like the US’ list, China’s “unreliable entity list” will have foreign entities that the country thinks will undermine the interests of local companies. Among the names being considered to be added to the list include Apple, Qualcomm, Cisco and even Boeing. These are companies that are reliant on the Chinese market, in one way or another.

It also looks like companies on China’s unreliable entity list will be subject to far more than just trade restrictions. According to Global Times, companies placed in the list can also be subject to investigations according to Chinese laws and regulations.

The criteria for a company to be placed on the list is also very broad and wide-sweeping.  Announced last year, the list will reportedly include organisations, individuals and companies that block or shut supply chains, take discriminatory measures for non-commercial reasons, or if they endanger the business of Chinese companies as well as global consumers and companies.

This development is not exactly surprising, since it’s more of a deja vu more than anything else. It still begs the question of what would it actually mean for a company to be on the Chinese unreliable entity list, now that the subject has resurfaced almost a year later.