(PHOTO / IC)

BEIJING – China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the single-minded rollout of restrictions on investments in China by the United States and has made serious démarche to the US side, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.

According to reports, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday on setting up screening mechanisms on outbound investments and restricting US entities' investments in the semiconductor and microelectronic, quantum information technology, and artificial intelligence sectors in China.

When asked for comments, a foreign ministry spokesperson said restricting US companies' investments in China, with national security concerns as a front, is a clear act of overstretching the concept of security and politicizing business engagement.

READ MORE: Biden signs order restricting tech investment in China

The spokesperson pointed out that real aim of the move is to deprive China of its right to develop and selfishly pursue US supremacy at the expense of others.

This is de-globalization and a move to phase China out.

Spokesperson, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China

"This is blatant economic coercion and tech bullying, an act that seriously violates the principles of market economy and fair competition, undermines the international economic and trading order, destabilizes global industrial and supply chains and hurts the interests of both China and the United States and the global business community," said the spokesperson. 

"This is de-globalization and a move to phase China out."

President Biden has made commitment to not seeking to "decouple" from China or halt China's economic development, the spokesperson said, urging the US side to follow through on that commitment, stop politicizing, instrumentalizing and weaponizing tech and trade issues, immediately cancel the wrong decisions, remove the restrictions on investments in China and create an enabling environment for China-US business cooperation.

"China will follow the developments closely and resolutely safeguard our rights and interests," the spokesperson added.

Right to take counter-measures

China is seriously concerned and reserves the right to take measures in response to the executive order, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its official website on Thursday.

The US has restricted outbound investment by its companies and is engaged in "decoupling and severing supply chains" in the investment field under the guise of "de-risking", which has seriously deviated from the principles of market economy and fair competition advocated by the US side, and affected normal business decisions of enterprises, the ministry said.

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Such moves have also undermined international economic and trade order, and seriously disrupted the security of global industrial and supply chains, it added.

"We hope that the US side respects the laws of the market economy and the principle of fair competition, and refrain from artificially impeding global economic and trade exchanges and cooperation, and from setting obstacles for the recovery and growth of world economy," reads the statement.