The UK has stopped the takeover of a Hong Kong firm's electronic design company because of concerns about national security.
The government said there was the possibility that tools could be exploited to build defence or technological capabilities. In 2020, Chinese mobile provider Huawei was banned from the UK's 5 G infrastructure because of national security concerns, which was denied by the company.
The latest takeover attempt was blocked under the National Security and Investment Act, which came into force in January.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said that the software developed by Pulsic could be used to facilitate the building of cutting-edge integrated circuits that could be used in a civilian or military supply chain. The decision to block the takeover was necessary and proportionate to mitigate the risk to national security Pulsic, which has offices in Bristol, Newcastle, Tokyo and San Jose.
Super Orange HK could not be reached for comment. The Chinese Embassy in the UK has been contacted for comment.
We should make sure we don't export technology that can be used against us. Foreign secretary told a leadership hustings on Wednesday that we need to clear investment screening and we've developed that to make sure we can't have acquisitions of key strategic assets.
She said the UK should be cracking down on Chinese-owned companies such as TikTok.