Tencent is classified as a Chinese military industrial enterprise by the US Department of Defense? Tencent urgent response

The U.S. Department of Defense recently mistakenly classified Tencent, a major investor in major video game companies, as a Chinese military company. At the same time, battery manufacturer CATL was also included in the list.

According to Bloomberg reports that Tencent and CATL have been added to the U.S. Department of Defense’s list of Chinese companies classified as military companies. However, it is worth noting that being included on the list itself does not directly lead to legal consequences, such as sanctions. But for those companies hoping to expand their business in the United States, such a classification is obviously disadvantageous.

Although This classification has limited direct impact on Tencent, but Tencent is still the owner of Riot Games and has made significant investments in multiple game companies including Epic Games, Larian Studios and FromSoftware. Additionally, there are reports that Tencent is in talks with companies like Ubisoft for more investment.

Faced with this misclassification, Tencent told Bloomberg that this was obviously a mistake and would actively seek to be removed from the Ministry of Defense’s list. Chinese phone maker Xiaomi was previously added to the list, but was successfully removed from the list a few months later.

In a statement to The Verge, Tencent’s Danny Marti further emphasized that this classification has no impact on Tencent’s business, but the company will still work hard to be removed from this classification.

The U.S. Department of Defense mentioned the concept of military-civilian fusion (MCF) in a report, saying that the Chinese government uses this strategy to combine civilian research and commercial success to promote military development. As a result, the U.S. government has established a list of Chinese companies suspected of collaborating with the Chinese military. However, companies such as Tencent and Xiaomi deny this.