China’s top economic planner has ordered the cancellation of Meta’s acquisition of Chinese AI startup Manus, halting a deal worth more than $2 billion and adding a potential new flashpoint to U.S.-China relations.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued the block on Monday, April 28, 2026, citing a prohibition on foreign investment in the project and directing the parties to withdraw the transaction.
California-based Meta, which owns Facebook, had acquired Manus in December 2025 in a bid to strengthen its capabilities in AI agents — tools designed to execute complex tasks with minimal human intervention. Manus had drawn attention earlier that year after releasing what it described as the world’s first general AI agent, earning comparisons in Chinese state media to DeepSeek.
The NDRC’s decision came after Manus CEO Xiao Hong and chief scientist Ji Yichao were barred from leaving China in March while regulators reviewed the deal, according to sources familiar with the matter. Manus had previously moved its headquarters from China to Singapore, a step that analysts say will not insulate companies from Beijing’s scrutiny.
The block could add another point of friction to a planned mid-May summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Alfredo Montufar-Helu, a managing director at Ankura China Advisors, said the intervention reflects how AI has moved to the center of strategic competition between the two countries. “China is saying we will prevent foreign acquisition of assets we consider important for national security — and AI is now clearly one of them,” he said. He added that controls once focused on semiconductors are now extending into AI more broadly.
The decision signals that Beijing is prepared to act against foreign acquisitions of domestic AI assets regardless of where those companies are formally headquartered.
Source: Tech-Economic Times