New Hampshire’s Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte signed two executive orders on Monday aimed at curtailing the influence of foreign adversaries, including China, in the state.
[RELATED: Maine’s New Anti-China Cybersecurity Law Takes Effect…]
“We must do everything we can to protect our state from foreign adversaries like China, Russia, and Iran. I’ve taken action to make sure they can’t access sensitive data, do business, or purchase property here. New Hampshire will always do our part to keep America safe,” said Gov. Ayotte on X.
One of the orders, “An Order Prohibiting Use of Certain Foreign Technologies,” focused on the dangers posed by information technology from foreign adversaries like China.
Ayotte’s order, 2025-04, prohibits the procurement, installation, or use of any hardware or software that presents an “unacceptable” cybersecurity risk.
Chinese owned tech companies pose a particular risk to U.S. security because of the nation’s 2017 “National Intelligence Law,” which requires all Chinese-owned tech companies to comply with government orders, including orders to steal information.
The state and other departments of Information Technology are instructed to implement procedures to prevent the use or procurement of prohibited technology and to include associated risks in statewide cybersecurity training within 90 days of the order.
The State Chief Information Security Officer must maintain and continually update a list of prohibited technologies and foreign adversaries.
Notably, the new order rescinds a 2022 executive order from former Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H.) that seemingly accomplished many of the same goals as Ayotte’s order.
The previous order included a specific list of prohibited technologies, including TikTok and the Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies, but appeared to be smaller in scope and specifically targeted China rather than all foreign adversaries, as the new order does.
The Maine Wire reached out to Ayotte, asking why she rescinded the previous order and how her new order improves upon it, but she did not immediately respond.
Ayotte’s order appears similar to a Maine law that went into effect last year, prohibiting state officials from using or contracting with a list of Chinese-owned technology companies.
Ayotte’s other order, 2025-05, reinforces a new state law, signed as part of the budget in June, prohibiting people or companies from foreign adversary nations from owning or controlling interests in NH real estate.
The order instructs the NH Department of Justice to issue guidance to state employees informing them of their obligations regarding principals from countries of concern and orders employees to report any real estate transactions or proposed transactions involving countries of concern.
It also orders state employees to ensure that citizens or companies from foreign adversaries have no involvement in the sale of state-owned real estate.
The order targeting real estate purchases comes on the same day the NH DOJ released a report, at Ayotte’s instruction, on the purchase of an industrial building near a Nashua, NH, water supply by the massive Chinese beverage corporation Nongfu Spring, owned by one of the Communist nation’s richest men.
The purchase has raised concerns among local residents, who don’t like the idea of a Chinese beverage corporation accessing their drinking water, and has drawn national attention.
In addition to the building’s proximity to the city’s reservoir, it is also near the Nashua Airport.
The purchase was finalized before the new law barring Chinese ownership of NH land went into effect, and the law does not work retroactively.
