Tencent on US blacklist for China military links, shares plunge by $35 billion

The US Defence Department said on Monday it has added Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings and battery maker CATL to a list of companies it says work with China’s military, in a move set to escalate US-China tensions.

The Hong Kong-listed shares of Tencent, the parent of Chinese instant messaging app WeChat, fell 7.3 per cent on Tuesday, losing about HK$275 billion ($35.4 billion) in market value, Shenzhen-listed shares of CATL closed 2.8 per cent lower, shaving off 32.2 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) in market value.