China urges US to stop weaponising economic and trade affairs

BEIJING – China called on the US to stop politicising and weaponising economic and trade issues, as Washington tries to limit overseas investments by Beijing in line with US President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy.

The American government’s actions, which strengthen reviews of business ties with China on security grounds, will seriously undermine the confidence of Chinese companies that are investing in the US, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Feb 22. 

The ministry’s comments followed the release of the America First Investment Policy, which named China among “adversaries” that systematically direct and facilitate investment in US companies and assets “to obtain cutting-edge technologies, intellectual property, and leverage in strategic industries”.

Although

President Trump earlier hinted at the possibility of a deal

to prevent further escalation of a trade war with China, Beijing’s US$295 billion (S$393.88 billion) trade surplus with Washington looms large in the new US administration’s list of concerns.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dubbed China as the most “unbalanced economy in the history of the world” in an interview with Bloomberg TV.

China will closely monitor the US actions and will take necessary measures to safeguard its own legitimate rights and interests, a Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson said.

Beijing has

retaliated against US tariffs with measures

including limited levies on America, and this week said Washington’s claims that China has failed to stop the trade in fentanyl were a “pretext” for imposing the charges.

In a separate statement on Feb 23, the Commerce Ministry said the proposed restrictive measures by the US against China’s maritime, logistics and shipbuilding industries are harmful to others as well as itself.

Beijing urged Washington to respect facts and multilateral rules and to “stop its wrongdoings”. BLOOMBERG