China urges US to stop weaponizing trade issues

China urged the United States to stop politicizing and weaponizing economic and trade issues, and treat companies from all countries, including China, fairly, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

The ministry made these remarks after the US Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules that will block both the importing and selling of technology products from five Chinese companies, citing national security concerns.

The FCC said last week that it had banned approvals of new equipment from the telecommunications companies Huawei Technologies, ZTE and Hytera Communications, as well as surveillance equipment from Dahua Technology Co and Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology on the grounds they "are deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to national security".

The US has repeatedly generalized the concept of national security and abused its state power to maliciously suppress Chinese companies. China is firmly opposed to these moves, said Shu Jueting, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Commerce.

The US should immediately correct its mistake. What the US has done not only harms the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, but also affects the interests of the US companies and consumers. It undermines the international economic and trade order and rules, and is not conducive to the two countries or the whole world, Shu told at a regular news conference.