China protests US curbs on purchase of its IT systems

BEIJING: China has voiced strong opposition to the United States approving a spending bill to restrict government purchases of Chinese information technology (IT) systems.

The content of the bill has sent an extremely erroneous signal, Shen Danyang, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday.

The bill, signed by US President Barack Obama early this week, also bans the US government from funding the issuance of export permits to commercial satellites sold to China.

The spokesman said the move directly affects the normal trade and investment cooperation between Chinese companies and their US partners, and it is not in line with creating and sustaining mutually beneficial partnerships between the two countries, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The discriminatory practice, implemented under the guise of "national security," has seriously violated the fair trade rule and damaged China-US mutual trust and bilateral cooperation in high-tech sectors, Shen said.

The US side should adopt practical measures to eliminate the negative impact the bill has on the China-US relations, Shen said.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei also urged the United States to abandon discriminatory practices against Chinese enterprises.

"We hope the US side could get rid of such a move and do more things that will promote the development of bilateral ties and mutual trust," Hong said.