According to the White House news release on the matter, China has been engaging in the "acquisition of sensitive United States technologies and intellectual property to modernize its military is a threat to our Nation's long-term economic vitality and the safety and security of the American people."
The document alleged that "mostly post -graduate students and post-doctorate researchers" from China have been operating as these "non-traditional collectors of intellectual property" for Beijing.
As a result, US President Donald Trump has prohibited certain Chinese nationals from entering the US under an F or J visa to study or conduct research.
Continued allowance of entry for those Chinese students would "be detrimental to the interests of the United States," according to the White House.
The suspension was announced moments after Trump declared that US officials had identified potential security risks in connection with vital university research.
During that same Friday news conference, he also revealed a number of new restrictions on Hong Kong and the termination of US ties to the World Health Organization over the public health agency's so-called pro-China bias.