(Yicai Global) Feb. 8 -- Shares of Wuxi Biologics plunged by a record after the Chinese biotech company was added to a US government red-flag export list, forcing a trading halt. The firm’s lawyers will meet with US officials tomorrow.

Wuxi Biologics Cayman [HKG: 2269] fell as much as 32 percent before trading in the stock was suspended in the morning at HKD62.25 (USD7.99), a 23 percent retreat.

The US Commerce Department yesterday said it had added 33 Chinese companies, including Wuxi Biologics, to its so-called unverified list, which requires US exporters to complete extra procedures before selling goods to the firms. Wuxi Biologics’ units in Wuxi and Shanghai were included.

The company, which makes ingredients for vaccines, said in a statement released this morning that the US move would not affect business, but it still hoped to be removed from the list.

“Wuxi Biologics has been importing certain hardware controllers for bioreactors and certain hollow fiber filters that are subject to US export controls but have received Commerce Department approval for the last 10 years,” the company said.

“There is very minimal impact on our imports as no such equipment is required after facility construction in Shanghai and Wuxi,” it added.

“We are in compliance with all US export control regulations,” it said, adding that “we do not re-export or resell these items to any other entity.”

On a conference call with investors, Chief Executive Chen Zhisheng said the US Commerce Department had been unable to carry out on-spot checks for two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic, so the company was put on the list. Its legal team will hold talks with the department tomorrow, Chen said.

“We really hope that our company can be removed from the list as soon as possible. We notice that 50 Chinese companies were on the list in 2019, but most of them have been removed,” Chen told Yicai Global.

“There is currently no way to comment on when the removal will occur, but the fastest time a company’s name was removed from the list in 2019 was two months,” he said.

Editor: Peter Thomas