Beijing has blocked the proposed purchase by Meta Platforms of artificial intelligence firm Manus, a start-up that is officially registered in Singapore but developed its products in mainland China.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country’s top economic planner, announced the ruling in a statement on Monday, and asked the parties involved in the deal to cancel the transaction.

Neither Meta nor Manus immediately responded to requests for comment on Monday.

A Shanghai-based lawyer, whose firm has not authorised employees to speak publicly on the matter, said Monday’s decision was not surprising as Beijing had already signalled its intention to stop the acquisition of its AI start-ups by US firms.

“This is a landmark case, but it’s not done yet. There are further actions in this case in the pipeline, some legal measures that will impact other similar cases as well,” the lawyer said, pointing to other start-ups with an overseas presence, such as MiroMind and Moonshot AI, developer of the Kimi model.

The NDRC’s decision followed an announcement from China’s Ministry of Commerce in January that it would conduct a review of the Meta-Manus deal, assessing whether it was consistent with the country’s regulations on export controls, technology exports and external investments.