The US has placed new restrictions on Chinese companies and given the federal government more power to curb the import of technology from the country, as the Trump administration races to increase the pressure on Beijing in its final days in office.
The last-minute flurry of activity included adding companies including the state-controlled China National Offshore Oil Corporation and the mobile phone manufacturer Xiaomi to government blacklists, and giving the US commerce department powers to block imports from countries deemed a security threat.
The commerce department on Thursday morning put Cnooc on its “entity list”, meaning that US groups will be unable to export products or technology to the company in the absence of a hard-to-obtain licence.