(This March 3 story has been corrected to say that only one unit of BGI Genomics was added to the list and the Commerce department added a total of three BGI Group units, in paragraph 3 )
HONG KONG (Reuters) – China opposes the United States adding several Chinese firms to its trade blacklist, China’s commerce ministry said on Friday.
China urges the United States to stop using any excuse to suppress Chinese firms, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.
The U.S. Commerce Department, which oversees export controls, recently added a unit of genetics company BGI Genomics Co Ltd to the export control list. It also added BGI Research and Forensic Genomics International, which belong to BGI Group, the parent of BGI Genomics Co Ltd.
(Reporting by Meg Shen and Twinnie Siu; Editing by Howard Goller)