On June 7, Chinese battery manufacturer Ningde Times saw its stock price plummet by nearly 6%. Earlier, US lawmakers called for it to be added to the Entity List, prohibiting its products from entering the US.
On the 7th, the mainland’s ChiNext Index fell by 2.16%, closing at 1,781 points; the Shanghai Composite Index dropped by 0.5%, closing at 3,574.11 points; and the Shenzhen Component Index fell by 0.9%, closing at 9,255.68 points.
ChiNext Index heavyweight Ningde Times saw a sharp decline, dropping by 5.66% to close at 193.20 points.
At 11:22 AM on the 7th, Ningde Times’ stock price had fallen by 8.38%.
The sharp drop in Ningde Times’ stock price has sparked attention on mainland Chinese social media. Netizens commented, “Small-cap stocks have not collapsed yet, and the large-cap stocks are beginning to collapse. Ningde Times is bleeding today; then Industrial Fulian rose by the limit yesterday, and today it plummeted again. The market is indeed a bit too extreme.” “With just a few words from the US, our country’s top enterprises are falling, losing face.” “The leading bull stock Ningde Times has dragged ChiNext into a pit!”
The phrase “just a few words from the US” mentioned by netizens refers to the joint public letters sent by Michigan Republican Congressman John Moolenaar, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Communist China Issues, Mark Green, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, and Senator Marco Rubio to the Department of Homeland Security on the 6th. They stated that the main Chinese battery manufacturers Ningde Times and National Battery High-Tech are related to forced labor supported by the Chinese Communist regime and the ongoing genocide of the Uyghur people. They requested that these two companies be added to the Entity List to ban their products from entering the US.
The lawmakers pointed out that Ningde Times and National Battery High-Tech are linked to the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a quasi-military organization in Xinjiang that has been sanctioned by the US and included on the Entity List. The Chinese authorities have repeatedly denied any human rights abuses in the region.