Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry
China deplores and firmly opposes the US memorandum on investment policy which, citing alleged national security concerns, calls China a "foreign adversary" and adopts various discriminatory measures to tighten restrictions on two-way investments with China, and China has lodged serious protests with the US side, Lin Jian, a spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry, said on Monday.
Lin made the remarks in response to a question about China's comments on the US memorandum of investment policy that tightens security scrutiny of Chinese investment in the US.
US President Donald Trump on Friday signed a memorandum directing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US to curb Chinese investments in strategic sectors, including "technology, critical infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, energy, raw materials, and others," according to a fact sheet released on the White House official website on Friday.
The tightening of security reviews targeting Chinese investments in the US severely hits the confidence of Chinese companies in investing in the US and what is being undermined is the business environment in that country, Lin said, noting that the increasing of restrictions on US investments in China is a deliberate interference with the independent decision-making of US companies and distortion of investments between the two countries.
By shutting out Chinese companies and the Chinese market, the US will end up hurting its own economic interests and international credibility, Lin noted.
We urge the US to abide by international investment and trade rules, respect the laws of market economy, stop politicizing and weaponizing economic and trade issues, and stop undermining China's legitimate right to development, Lin said, noting that we will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard our legitimate rights and interests.
On the same day, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) said that the Chinese business community firmly opposes the US' repeated expansion of the concept of "national security," which continuously hinders economic and trade exchanges between the industries of the two countries. It urged the US to lift restrictions on two-way investment related to the "America First Investment Policy" memorandum.
The CCPIT stressed that once these measures are implemented, they will severely impact the normal business decision-making of enterprises, undermine the international economic and trade order, and disrupt the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains.
"We urge the US to respect the principles of the market economy and fair competition, clarify the boundaries of national security in the economic and trade fields, remove restrictions on two-way investment between China and the US, and create a favorable environment for mutually beneficial cooperation between the business communities of both countries," the CCPIT said.
In addition to the new curbs on two-way investments with China, the US has also stepped up restrictive measures on China's shipbuilding sector. On Friday local time, the Office of the US Trade Representative claimed that "it is inviting comments from the public on proposed Section 301 actions aimed to obtain the elimination of China's acts, policies, and practices targeting the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors for dominance," according to the official website of the US trade agency.
Regarding the US restrictive measures against China's shipbuilding and other related industries, Lin said on Monday that to serve its political agenda at home, the US has abused Section 301 investigation, which seriously violated WTO rules and further undermined the multilateral trading system. We call on the US side to respect facts and multilateral rules and immediately stop its wrongdoings, he said.
Global Times
