David Li says he was “shocked” in May last year when the US Congressional Research Service accused his company, Hesai — the world’s biggest producer of laser sensors used in electric vehicles — of supporting the Chinese military.
The CRS report was the first public sign that Hesai would become the latest victim of the US-China tech war. Then, in January, Hesai was hit with even worse news when the Pentagon added the Shanghai-based and New York-listed group to a list of Chinese entities alleged to be part of China’s military-civil fusion programme.
While the Pentagon move to add Hesai to a list of about 40 “Chinese Military Companies” instituted in 2021 had no regulatory impact, it created a perception of investment risk that helped trigger a battering of Hesai’s share price.