Biden order bans investment in dozens of Chinese defence, tech firms

US President Biden

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Thursday that bans US entities from investing in dozens of Chinese companies with alleged ties to defence or surveillance technology sectors, a move his administration says expands the scope of a legally flawed Trump-era order. The Treasury Department will enforce and update on a ‘rolling basis’ the new list of about 59 companies, which bars buying or selling publicly traded securities in target companies, and replaces an earlier list from the Department of Defence, senior administration officials told reporters. The order prevents US investment from supporting the Chinese military-industrial complex, as well as military, intelligence, and security research and development programs, Biden said in the order. ‘In addition, I find that the use of Chinese surveillance technology outside the PRC and the development or use of Chinese surveillance technology to facilitate repression or serious human rights abuse constitute unusual and extraordinary threats,’ Biden said, using the acronym for the People's Republic of China.