The company was originally added to a list of organisations thought to be aiding China’s military in January 2025, and that status was upheld in June of this year.
Chinese chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) is suing the US Department of Defense to seek its removal from a US government blacklist.
The company was originally added to a list of organisations thought to be aiding China’s military in January 2025, and that status was upheld in June of this year.
Established in 2016 in Hefei, CXMT creates the dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips needed to power mobile phones, PCs, tablets, servers, and a range of consumer products and applications.
“CXMT designs, produces and sells its DRAM chips for civilian and commercial use, not for military use,” it reportedly said in its court filings.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and two of his staff are among the named co-defendants in the suit, filed last Friday (28 August) in a US district court for the District of Columbia.
“CXMT is not a military company and has no affiliation with the Chinese military,” the company said in a statement after the filing, according to Bloomberg.
“Since its initial designation in January 2025, CXMT has continuously suffered reputational and commercial harm. It is pursuing this action to protect its reputation and business interests.”
CXMT is on a list of “entities identified as Chinese military companies operating in the United States”, according to the US defence department, which are categorised as such under a ‘section 1260H’ designation.
Designated businesses are also said to be “engaged in providing commercial services, manufacturing, producing or exporting … and operate directly or indirectly” in the US. The list also features companies such as Tencent, Huawei, BYD and Alibaba.
Earlier this month, CXMT surpassed Tencent in market capitalisation to become China’s most valuable company at around $520bn.
Last week, CXMT reported first-half revenues for 2026 of around $22bn – up more than 870pc year-on-year – fuelled by the global memory crunch rooted in the AI-driven wave of demand for chips.
US curbs on semiconductor exports to China over recent years have pushed China to focus on its own chip capabilities. Earlier this year, China reportedly began restricting overseas travel for its top AI professionals in its escalating battle with the US over technological dominance.
Last week, a US judge blocked the Pentagon’s blacklisting of products made by US AI giant Anthropic being used for government purposes, ruling that its actions violated the company’s rights.
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