(Reuters) – The Trump administration is considering adding Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. to the black list of Chinese companies allegedly owned or controlled by the Chinese military, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters Told.
The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, stating that the plan is still under consideration and that its impact in markets may not be debated by agencies. (On.wsj.com/3nngMYB)
Alibaba and Tencent shares fell nearly 3% in morning trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. US-listed shares of Alibaba closed just over 5% in the news on Wednesday, but remained almost flat after hours of trading.
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transactions with eight Chinese software applications, including the Ant Group’s Alipay mobile payment app, with President-Elect Joe Biden in office two weeks before tensions escalated. .
Alibaba and Tencent did not immediately respond to a comment on Reuters’ request.
Reporting by Munsif Vengtil in Bangalore and Andrea Shalal and Alexandra Alper in Washington; Editing by Shaunak Dasgupta and Edwina Gibbs
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