China urges U.S.-funded firms to maintain stability of global industrial, supply chains

China on Sunday urged U.S.-funded enterprises to take practical actions to jointly maintain the stability of the global industrial and supply chains and promote win-win cooperation.

Chinese Vice Commerce Minister Ling Ji, also deputy China international trade representative, made the remarks while hosting a roundtable meeting for U.S.-funded enterprises in Beijing.

Stressing that multilateralism is the inevitable choice to resolve the difficulties and challenges faced by the world, Ling reiterated that China’s door will only open wider and its policy of utilizing foreign investment has not changed and will not change.

The minister of commerce will, as always, continue to provide guarantees for foreign-invested enterprises in China, including American enterprises, protect their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law, and promote the resolution of their problems and demands, Ling said.

He said the recent U.S. decision to impose tariffs on its trading partners, including China, has seriously undermined the multilateral trading system, and infringed the legitimate rights and interests of all countries. “The Chinese government has strongly condemned and firmly opposed the U.S. move, and has taken resolute measures to counter to it,” he added.

Ling said China’s countermeasures are not only intended to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of U.S.-funded companies, but also to urge the U.S. to return to the right track of the multilateral trading system.

Representatives from more than 20 U.S.-funded companies including Tesla, GE HealthCare and Medtronic attended the meeting.