China's Novogene Sues the Pentagon Over 'Chinese Military Company' Listing
Washington — Chinese genomics company Novogene Co., Ltd. (Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market: 688315) and its U.S. subsidiary sued the U.S. Department of Defense on November 3 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenging the Pentagon's June decision to place the company on its 'Chinese military companies' list and asking the court to strike the designation.
The complaint alleges that the designation rested on inadequate evidence, was made without prior notice or a chance to respond, and violates the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment's due process guarantee; it says the listing has caused serious economic and reputational injury. In its designation notice published in the Federal Register on June 10, the Defense Department said Novogene was indirectly owned by China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council and indirectly affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the People's Liberation Army. The notice cited Section 1260H of the fiscal 2021 National Defense Authorization Act; it did not say Novogene manufactured military equipment.
In a June 18 statement, Novogene denied those findings, calling itself an independent publicly listed enterprise with no state ownership or military affiliations, saying it had contacted U.S. authorities to seek removal, and stating that it does not design, develop or market military products. Those claims remain untested by the court. The complaint also cites about 180 U.S. employees at the company's facilities in Sacramento, California, and Beaverton, Oregon.
Under Section 1260H, the Pentagon must publish an annual list of qualifying entities operating in the United States. Since June 30, 2026, the department has been barred from contracting directly with listed companies, and broader restrictions on contracts covering their goods and services begin on June 30, 2027. There is precedent for such suits: on August 18, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit held in Hesai Technology's case that the reputational and contracting consequences of a listing engage due process, so a company must receive notice of the unclassified evidence and a meaningful chance to respond before designation. That ruling binds courts in the circuit but is not a decision in Novogene's case, which remains pending.
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于华盛顿的 E. Barrett Prettyman 美国法院大楼，美国哥伦比亚特区联邦地区法院设于此。照片：AgnosticPreachersKid，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse in Washington, home to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Photo by AgnosticPreachersKid, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
