New York, NY — October 20, 2025 — WireScreen, the leading provider of open-source intelligence on China’s companies, investors, and global influence networks, has identified more than 20,000 Chinese entities that are subject to U.S. export restrictions under the Bureau of Industry and Security’s (BIS) newly announced 50 percent Affiliates Rule.
The new rule materially expands the effective reach of the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List (EL) — a sanctions-style tool that restricts exports to listed parties that have been deemed a national security risk. There are roughly 1,300 China-related parties already on the Entity List. By applying the Affiliates Rule, WireScreen’s analysis shows that more than 20,000 Chinese subsidiaries and indirectly owned entities now fall under the same export control restrictions as their listed parent companies.
The newly affected entities span semiconductors, aerospace, defense, and dual-use technologies, as well as affiliates of organizations designated as Military End Users (MEU) or listed under §744.8 for military or intelligence ties.
“Our findings show how deeply interconnected China’s corporate ecosystem is—and how the Affiliates Rule multiplies the reach of export controls beyond the originally listed parties,” said David Barboza, WireScreen’s co-founder and CEO. “Because historical and indirect ownership can persist across restructurings, compliance teams need comprehensive, timestamped chain-of-ownership analysis to understand an entity’s exposure.”
Key Findings
Methodology: This analysis reflects WireScreen’s ownership graph as of October 18, 2025. “Affiliates” are entities owned 50 percent or more—individually or in the aggregate—by one or more Entity List or sanctioned affiliates.
WireScreen maps ownership, control, and exposure across multilayered corporate structures—enabling compliance teams, regulators, and policymakers to assess risk and monitor the impact of export controls on China’s corporate networks.
For more information on WireScreen’s export control analysis and its coverage of China’s strategic sectors, visit https://www.wirescreen.ai/bis-50-rule.
Media Contact:
WireScreen Communications
contact@wirescreen.ai
