The Ministry of Commerce said on Monday that to deter Japan’s “remilitarisation” and its attempts to “acquire nuclear weapons”, it has added 20 Japanese entities “involved in enhancing Japan’s military capabilities” to an export control list.Twenty Japanese entities have also been added to a separate watch list.The move was to safeguard China’s national security and interests and to fulfil international obligations such as non-proliferation, the ministry added.A ministry spokesperson added that China’s actions were in accordance with the law, were only aimed at a “small number” of Japanese entities, and only targeted dual-use items.“They will not affect normal economic and trade exchanges between China and Japan, and honest and law-abiding Japanese entities have absolutely nothing to worry about,” the spokesperson said.In February, China added 20 Japanese entities, including some of Japan’s largest companies, to its export control list and 20 more to a watch list to scrutinise the trade of select goods and apply more economic pressure on Tokyo.