The Ministry of Commerce Photo: VCG

Responding to the US Commerce Department's adding 42 Chinese companies to a US government export control list, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Saturday said that it strongly opposes the US move, which is a typical act of economic coercion and unilateral bullying.

"China has taken note of the relevant situation. In a short period of time, the US side once again has placed a number of Chinese enterprises on the 'entity list' of export control in the pretext of claiming them involved in Russia. The US has generalized national security, abused export control measures, and arbitrarily imposed unilateral sanctions and 'long-arm jurisdiction' on Chinese companies," a MOFCOM spokesperson said on Saturday.

The US Department of Commerce on Friday published an addition of entities to the Entity List, including 42 Chinese companies and other 10 companies from Estonia, Finland, Germany, India, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the UK.

According to the US, the entities were added to the US export control list "for providing support to Russia's military and/or defense industrial base."

"This is a typical act of economic coercion and unilateral bullying, which China strongly opposes. The US side should immediately correct its wrongdoing and stop its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies. China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," the MOFCOM spokesperson added.

On Wednesday, MOFCOM spokesperson expressed strong opposition to US' recent addition of certain Chinese entities to its export control list, citing so-called involvement in military activities or relations with Iran and Russia.

Global Times