Beijing’s Sanctions on 40 Japanese Firms: China Moves to Critically Slow Japan’s Rearmament

On February 24, 2026, the PRC announced an unprecedented expansion of export controls on 40 Japanese technology companies due to their involvement in the development of the military-industrial complex.

This decision became the largest package of targeted economic restrictions from Beijing since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the states in 1972, specifying the general regime of restricting Japan’s access to dual-use goods from January 6.

According to a decree by the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC, the mentioned Japanese companies were divided into two sanction levels.