The US has imposed sanctions on three Chinese and one Pakistani company, as well as a Chinese citizen, for helping Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller announced on Thursday.

Beijing Research Institute of Automation for Machine Building Industry (RIAMB) is being targeted for its work with Pakistan’s National Development Complex (NDC) to procure equipment for testing of large diameter rocket motors, including those used in the Shaheen-3 and Ababeel missiles, but potentially also for larger systems, he said in a statement.

The NDC, according to the US, is involved in the development of long-range ballistic missiles. The sanction on RIAMB is being imposed under an executive order from 2005 to curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.

China-based Hubei Huachangda Intelligent Equipment Company, Universal Enterprise Ltd, and Xi’an Longde Technology Development Company Ltd (also known as Lontek) are sanctioned for having “knowingly transferred equipment and technology” to Pakistan, which is not a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) group, Miller said.

Chinese citizen Luo Dongmei (who uses the pseudonym Steed Luo); and a Pakistani-based company, Innovative Equipment, are also sanctioned for the same actions, according to him.

They and the three companies were found to violate the MTCR regulations against transferring restricted equipment.

The MTCR’s 35 members, including India, work to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons by restricting their most destabilising delivery systems.

The assets, and interests in properties of the sanctioned companies in the US or controlled by American citizens are frozen and US companies and citizens are forbidden to do business with them.

The US had sanctioned three Chinese and one Belarussian companies for providing items for use in long-range ballistic missiles. At that time, Islamabad criticised the sanctions and Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said: “Pakistan rejects political use of export controls.”

The Shaheen-3 capable of carrying nuclear weapons has a range of 2,750 kilometres, while the 2,200 kilometre-range Ababeel is more advanced and carries multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV), which can hit several targets.