(Yicai Global) Dec. 4 -- Shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International plunged after the chipmaker said it is assessing the impact of being added to the US defense department’s list of “Communist Chinese Military Companies.”

SMIC's stock price [HKG: 0981] slid as much as 7.4 percent in Hong Kong today, before closing 5.4 percent lower at HKD21 (USD2.70). Its Shanghai-listed shares [SHA: 688981] finished down 3.3 percent at CNY58.20 (USD8.91) each, after dropping by as much as 4.5 percent earlier in the day.

China’s largest chipmaker is evaluating the impact on its business after noticing that it was added to the US list, Shanghai-based SMIC said in a statement this morning. 

China National Offshore Oil, also known as CNOOC, China Construction Technology and China International Engineering Consulting were also added to the blacklist yesterday, bringing the total number to 35. The US defense department said it would continue to update the list “as appropriate.”

Shares of CNOOC [HKG: 0883], China’s largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas, fell 3.9 percent to close at CNY7.40 today.

The US defense department published the names of the first group of blacklisted companies allegedly owned or controlled by China’s military in June. Handset maker Huawei Technologies, computer vision firm Hikvision Digital Technology and mobile carrier China Telecom are some of the previously selected firms.

Last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at prohibiting US nationals from investing in companies on the list. The order is expected to take effect from Jan. 11 next year, Reuters reported. 

Editor: Emmi Laine