Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi saw its shares surge more than 10 percent in Hong Kong on Monday following its removal from a blacklist by a US judge.
The blacklist that existed before now had technically barred American companies from investing in the smartphone giant.
The firm’s stock price has been hammered since mid-January when Donald Trump, in his last days in office, included it in a group the White House considered a threat to US national security.
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The move classified Xiaomi, which is among the biggest smartphone makers in the world, as one of nine ‘Communist Chinese military companies‘ that also included state oil giant CNOOC and popular social media app TikTok.
But US District Judge Rudolph Contreras ruled Friday that the Department of Defense and the Treasury ‘have not made the case that the national security interests at stake here are compelling’.
He removed Xiaomi from the blacklist and suspended the investment ban after the firm appealed against the blacklisting.
The news sent shares in the firm surging 12 percent in Hong Kong morning trade Monday, having lost more than 40 percent since Trump’s order.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK