China's commerce ministry slams US foreign investment curbs as discriminatory
Beijing says Washington's proposed rules expanding investment restrictions on China are discriminatory, harm bilateral trade and violate consensus between the two nations' leaders. China warns it will take countermeasures.
China's commerce ministry has voiced strong opposition to a new set of proposed rules by the US Treasury Department that would expand restrictions on American outbound investment into China. In a statement on 24 October, a ministry spokesperson said the rules were a typical case of overstretching the concept of national security and would severely disrupt normal economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
The spokesperson said Beijing is deeply concerned and firmly opposed to the move, which it described as discriminatory in scope and intensity. The rules, according to the ministry, violate the important consensus reached by the two countries' heads of state and undermine the international economic and trade order.
China reserves the right to take corresponding measures, the spokesperson added, while vowing to closely monitor developments.
Washington's decision to restrict investment in China, the spokesperson argued, will not only harm Sino-US economic and trade ties but also hurt the interests of American companies themselves. The ministry urged the United States to respect the laws of the market economy, stop overstretching the concept of national security, and cease politicising and weaponising economic and trade issues.
The US Treasury Department released the proposed rules earlier in the week, marking the latest effort by the Biden administration to tighten controls on American capital flowing into sectors such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing in China.