On April 8, 2021, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule adding seven Chinese supercomputing entities to the Entity List for “conducting activities that are contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States” due to their support of China’s military modernization and “other destabilizing efforts.”

These Chinese entities are:

  • Tianjin Phytium Information Technology
  • Shanghai High-Performance Integrated Circuit Design Center
  • Sunway Microelectronics
  • The National Supercomputing Center Jinan
  • The National Supercomputing Center Shenzhen
  • The National Supercomputing Center Wuxi
  • The National Supercomputing Center Zhengzhou

According to a statement issued by BIS, these entities “are involved with building supercomputers used by China’s military actors, its destabilizing military modernization efforts, and/or weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs.” Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo added, “Supercomputing capabilities are vital for the development of many – perhaps almost all – modern weapons and national security systems, such as nuclear weapons and hypersonic weapons. The Department of Commerce will use the full extent of its authorities to prevent China from leveraging U.S. technologies to support these destabilizing military modernization efforts.”

The listing of these seven entities on the Entity List is effective as of April 8, 2021. Their listing imposes a license requirement that applies to all items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and removes any license exceptions on exports, reexports or transfers (in-country) to these entities. In applying for any license to export to these entities, BIS has adopted a license review policy of a presumption of denial.