China’s commerce ministry on Saturday slammed the US new move that aims to primarily further restrict two-way investments with China, urging the US to stop politicizing and weaponizing economic and trade issues and vowing to take necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.
US President Donald Trump on Friday signed a memorandum directing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) 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 memorandum titled “America First Investment Policy” aims to “promote foreign investment while protecting America’s national security interests, particularly from threats posed by foreign adversaries like the People’s Republic of China,” according to the release on the website of the White House.
The Trump administration will consider new or expanded restrictions on US outbound investment to China in sensitive technologies, according to the fact sheet.
Commenting on the memorandum of “America First Investment Policy” which aims to tighten curbs on two-way investments with China, Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Saturday that the US is overstretching the concept of national security, engaging in discriminatory practices, and resorting to non-market measures that severely disrupt normal economic and trade cooperation between businesses of the two countries.
The tightened security scrutiny imposed on Chinese investments will significantly dampen the confidence of Chinese enterprises in investing in the US. China calls on the US to provide a fair, transparent, stable, and predictable business environment for Chinese investors, the ministry said.
China urges the US to abide by international investment and trade rules, respect market economy principle, and stop politicizing and weaponizing economic and trade issues. China will closely monitor Washington’s actions and take necessary steps to protect its legitimate rights and interests, the ministry said.
Chinese experts reached by the Global Times said on Saturday that the US is “abusing national security pretexts” to further restrict Chinese investments, which could stifle innovation in critical US industries, undermine fair competition, and ultimately backfire.
They highlighted “technology knows no borders,” warning that the latest US move, which reflects a “zero-sum game mentality,” risks disrupting market principles, escalating China-US trade tensions, and destabilizing the global economic order.
The latest measures underscore Washington’s push to expand both the scope and intensity of its investment curbs targeting China, an approach that risks severely constricting bilateral technological and trade collaboration, Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Saturday.
The US has intensified efforts in recent years to obstruct normal China-US trade through measures including tariffs and investment curbs. After taking office, Trump announced to impose 10 percent tariffs on all imports from China, a move that Chinese authorities have repeatedly criticized, warning that trade wars and tariff wars have no winners and hurt the interests of people of all countries.
On Friday, He Lifeng, Chinese vice premier and Chinese lead person for China-US economic and trade affairs, held a video call with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent at the latter’s request. He expressed “serious concerns” over recent US additional tariffs and other restrictive measures against China.
Earlier in the week, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao sent a letter to the newly appointed US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, stressing that “economic and trade relations form a crucial part of China-US relations,” and as the world’s two largest economies, strengthened cooperation benefits both nations and global growth.
Zhou noted that “national security” has increasingly become a pretext for the US to stifle fair competition with China. He cautioned that excessive restrictions might result in an overreliance on single supply sources within the US, worsening monopolies, driving up prices, and creating inefficiencies – ultimately undermining the security of US industry and technology.
Distort investment flows
Friday’s memorandum revealed that the Trump Administration will also consider new or expanded restrictions on US outbound investment to China in sensitive technologies, including semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum, biotechnology, aerospace, and more, to stop US funds from supporting.
Regarding the plan to further curb US investments in China, MOFCOM noted on Saturday that if implemented, such measures would further distort bilateral investment flows and ultimately harm US interests as well.
Numerous US business associations and companies have expressed concerns that limitations on US investments in China could lead to American firms losing their competitive edge in the Chinese market to competitors from other countries, MOFCOM said.
The US approach violates the principle of market-driven capital flows, heightens bilateral trade tensions, and threatens global industrial and supply chain collaboration, Gao Lingyun, an expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, told the Global Times on Saturday.
“While China expands its opening-up policies to welcome more foreign investment, Washington is ramping up its prohibitions on Chinese investments, particularly in advanced technologies—a stark indication of US hegemonic thinking,” Gao said.
Gao stressed that “technology knows no borders,” calling US to work with China to harness their respective comparative advantages for mutual benefit. “Unilateral restrictions will only lead to duplicated efforts and inefficient development,” Gao added.
Zhou urged the US to engage in equal dialogue with China, aiming for win-win outcomes that address the concerns of both sides, as “Protectionist measures harm all parties involved. Cooperation, not confrontation, is the only viable long-term path.”
