(Yicai Global) May 26 -- Xiaomi has won its fight to clear its name after the smartphone giant was placed on a US blacklist in January along with eight other Chinese firms for allegedly having ties to the Chinese military, preventing US investors from buying and holding shares in the company.

The US District Court for the District of Columbia has vacated the US Department of Defense's designation of Xiaomi as a "Communist Chinese military company" and, by doing so, has lifted all restrictions on the purchase and holding of securities of the company by US persons, the firm today.

Xiaomi is an open, transparent, publicly traded, independently operated and managed corporation, it said. The Beijing-based company’s share price [HKG:1810] closed up 1.62 percent at HKD28.20 (USD3.63) today.

An embargo was placed on Xiaomi during the last week of the Trump administration allegedly because Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun was given the award of ‘Outstanding Builder of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics’ by the Chinese government in 2019, and due to the company’s plans to invest CNY50 billion (USD7.8 billion) in fifth generation mobile network technology and artificial intelligence which the DOD alleged was a priority for the Chinese military.

Xiaomi took the government to court, arguing that the ban was “arbitrary and capricious” and saying that it had been denied due process. In March, the US district court issued a preliminary injunction to block the blacklisting and the US government did not contest the ruling.

Editor: Kim Taylor