US sanctions over South China Sea will not affect blacklisted Chinese construction giant CCCC, company says
- US last week blacklisted 24 Chinese state-owned companies for their roles in helping ‘militarise’ outposts in disputed parts of the South China Sea
- China Communications Construction Company says it will conduct a deeper assessment to determine any unknown impacts
The dredging business of state-owned engineering giant China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) will not be adversely affected by fresh US sanctions, but questions remain as to whether there could be reputational damage to its Australian and US subsidiaries, including a marine engineering group in Texas.
On Wednesday, the United States Department of Commerce blacklisted 24 Chinese state-owned companies, including five CCCC dredging subsidiaries, for their roles in helping the Communist Party “militarise” outposts in the contested South China Sea.
CCCC, whose international investment arm is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, has since said in a statement that its five blacklisted subsidiaries, including the China Communications Construction Company Dredging Group, did not have any US business and would not be financially affected by the sanctions.
“According to the 2019 annual report, the new contract value and revenue of the dredging business accounts for approximately 6 per cent of the total new contract value and revenue of the company. The company mainly conducts the business of waterway dredging, land reclamation and environmental dredging domestically,” it said.