Beijing opposes new US trade restrictions on Chinese technology products

China on Wednesday criticized reported US plans to impose new restrictions on imports of Chinese optical transceivers and additional tariffs and price controls on polysilicon and related products, saying such measures would harm bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

Responding to a question about the reported US plans and what measures Beijing would take to protect Chinese companies, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Beijing "firmly opposes" what it described as Washington's overuse of national security concerns to target Chinese businesses.

"China firmly opposes the US overstretching the concept of national security, and abusing state power to go after Chinese businesses," Lin said.

He argued that protectionist policies would not make the US more competitive and said the reported measures would seriously disrupt normal trade and economic exchanges between Chinese and US companies.

Lin added that such actions were "not in the interest of US businesses and consumers or anyone else for that matter."

He said China would continue to "firmly protect" the legitimate rights and interests of its companies.