China’s NDRC Reportedly to Block SoftBank’s ABB Robotics Deal; Foreign Ministry Refers Queries to Competent Authorities

The NDRC's reported move signals that Beijing is willing to use merger control as a geopolitical tool, even when the target sits inside a European joint venture rather than a Chinese asset. The immediate losers are SoftBank, which loses a strategic robotics foothold, and ABB, whose disposal calculus now depends on a buyer Beijing might accept. The foreign ministry's non-denial keeps the decision opaque, so the open question is whether this becomes a template for blocking other cross-border industrial-tech deals involving Japanese or Western acquirers.