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| Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi |
Shares in Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi collapsed more than 11 per cent in Hong Kong trade on Friday after the US put it on a blacklist. The aim is to ban Americans from investing in it as the Trump administration ramps up its battle with Beijing.
In one of the year's biggest IPOs, Xiaomi went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on July 9, 2018.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Lei Jun, the CEO & CO-Founder of Xiaomi, lost almost $3 billion as the stock tumbled a record 10.6%. Lei' Jun's first success was selling online retailer Joyo.com to Amazon in 2004 for $75 million.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of Defense said it was “determined to highlight and counter the People’s Republic of China’s military-civil fusion development strategy” that allowed it to access key technology and security data.
Interestingly, Xiaomi overtook Apple in smartphone sales in third quarter, according to IDC.
Xiaomi is one of the world’s biggest smartphone makers and considered China’s answer to Apple, was one of 11 firms targeted by US officials who said they posed a threat to national security.
Besides blacklisting Xiaomi, a separate list from the U.S. Commerce Department also banned Americans from the companies, including state energy giant CNOOC and deep-water explorer Skyrison, which develops military equipment.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of Defense said it was “determined to highlight and counter the People’s Republic of China’s military-civil fusion development strategy” that allowed it to access key technology and security data.
Interestingly, Xiaomi overtook Apple in smartphone sales in third quarter, according to IDC.
Earlier in May last year, the US government imposed restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei's ability to use American technology, stepping up a conflict with Beijing over industry development and security.
Besides blacklisting Xiaomi, a separate list from the U.S. Commerce Department also banned Americans from the companies, including state energy giant CNOOC and deep-water explorer Skyrison, which develops military equipment.
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