Biden Order to Ban Investment in 59 Chinese Defense, Tech Firms

WASHINGTON - The Biden administration will issue a new executive order on Thursday that bans U.S. entities from buying or selling publicly traded securities for 59 Chinese companies with alleged ties to defense or surveillance technology sectors, senior administration officials said.

The Treasury Department will enforce and update on a "rolling basis" the new ban list, which replaces one from the Department of Defense, the officials, noting the policy would take effect on Aug. 2. The new order, which is an effort to make a similar Trump-era prohibition more legally sound, signals the administration's intent to "ensure that U.S. persons are not financing the military industrial complex of the People's Republic of China," one of the senior officials told reporters. The inclusion of Chinese surveillance technology firms expanded the scope of the previous order, the officials said.