File photo

China welcomes the American business community to invest and establish businesses in the country and strengthen cooperation with Chinese enterprises so as to seize opportunities brought by Chinese economic development and opening-up, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang said at a video conference with the American business community on Wednesday.

"Those pushing for economic decoupling with China in the US are against basic common sense and economic principles and are damaging the fundamental interests of companies and consumers in the two countries," Zheng said. He urged the US side to correct its mistakes, stop hysterical anti-China rhetoric and avoid behavior that injures others while harming itself.

The China-US relationship is now at a crossroads, facing a grim and complex situation that has rarely been seen since the two countries established diplomatic relations, Zheng said.

"For a period of time, the US side intervened in China's internal affairs and harmed China's interests on a series of issues, causing severe damage to the China-US relationship," he said. Out of ideology and prejudice, some in the US spare no effort in smearing and attacking China and unscrupulously obstructing China-US contact and cooperation by going against facts and misleading the American people, which poses challenges to the common interests of the two countries' people, he continued.

China will firmly fight back against any bullying and unfairness from the US and the US' plot to hinder China's development is doomed to fail, Zheng stressed, noting that China now has the focus and resilience to handle any kind of risks and steadily realize its goal.

File photo shows a view of the Lujiazui area in Shanghai, east China. (Xinhua)

He pointed out the continued improvement in China's consumption and investment sector. China's economy led the world to rebound from contraction in the second quarter by expanding by 3.2 percent, up from a 6.8 percent contraction in the first quarter.

"China's determination to deepen reform and promote opening-up will not change, and the same goes for its commitment to welcome foreign enterprises to expand investment in the country and strengthen cooperation with its firms," Zheng said. He stressed that the country will continue to build a business climate characterized by the principles of marketization, the rule of law and internationalization, and that it will treat domestic and foreign firms equally.

Zheng said that the Chinese and US economy are highly complementary as they're in different development stages and their economic and trade cooperation is determined by international industrial division and the choice made by companies and consumers in the two countries.

"China is sincere in implementing its commitments in the phase one trade deal but the implementation of the agreement requires joint efforts from the two sides. The US side should stop its restrictions and discrimination toward Chinese companies to create favorable conditions for the agreement's implementation," he said.

The US' crazy crackdown on Chinese high-tech firms under the guise of protecting national security will force Chinese firms to accelerate self-innovation and boost faster development of China's high-tech industry, making US companies lose market share and cooperation opportunities they could have, he said.

During the meeting, Zheng also expressed gratitude for the American Chamber of Commerce and its members' contribution to China's combat against the COVID-19 outbreak, saying many Chinese cities and companies actively donated medical supplies to the US and the Chinese government offers convenience for US firms to purchase medical supplies in the market.

"We're willing to cooperate with the US in fighting the global pandemic and share our COVID-19 prevention information and experience to save more lives. But we urge the US side to stop politicizing the outbreak and stigmatizing the virus, and to stop smearing China and shirking its responsibility," he said.

The American Chamber of Commerce and its members including Coca-Cola, Honeywell and Ford Motor Company joined the meeting. They said they attach great importance to the Chinese market, feel positive about China's economic development prospects and are willing to continue to take root in China to seek common growth with the country.

The objection to economic decoupling between the two countries was clearly expressed, along with the view that a stable China-US relationship is key to cooperation between companies from the two countries.

Global Times