China denounces U.S.’s update of so-called Chinese military companies list

China on Thursday denounced the U.S.’s move to add more Chinese companies to its so-called Chinese military companies list, saying it’s suppressing Chinese companies and discouraging foreign enterprises from doing business in the U.S.

The remarks were made by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a regular press briefing on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Defense of Military added over a dozen Chinese companies to a list of organizations it claims work with China’s military in an attempt to highlight and restrict these companies operating in the U.S.

“We strongly oppose the U.S. side overstretching the concept of national security, creating discriminatory lists with various categories, suppressing Chinese companies under false pretexts, and disrupting normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the U.S.,” said Wang.

The spokesperson said the move violates the principles of market competition and international economic and trade rules that the U.S. side has always advocated and undermines the confidence of foreign companies in investing and operating in the United States.

Wang urged the U.S. side to immediately correct the above discriminatory practices and provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese enterprises to operate in the United States.

China’s memory-chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp and artificial intelligence companies Yitu Technology and Beijing Megvii were among the companies named in Wednesday’s update of the so-called 1260H list of “Chinese military companies.”