U.S. move to place 42 more Chinese companies on 'entity list' is economic coercion, bullying: MOFCOM

Responding to the U.S. Commerce Department's adding 42 Chinese companies to a U.S. government export control list, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Saturday said that it strongly opposes the U.S. move, which is a typical act of economic coercion and unilateral bullying.

"China has taken note of the relevant situation. In a short period of time, the U.S. side once again has placed a number of Chinese enterprises on the 'entity list' of export control in the pretext of claiming them involved in Russia. The U.S. has generalized national security, abused export control measures, and arbitrarily imposed unilateral sanctions and 'long-arm jurisdiction' on Chinese companies," a MOFCOM spokesperson said on Saturday.

The U.S. Department of Commerce on Friday published an addition of entities to the Entity List, including 42 Chinese companies and other 10 companies from Estonia, Finland, Germany, India, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the UK.

According to the U.S., the entities were added to the U.S. export control list "for providing support to Russia's military and/or defense industrial base."

"This is a typical act of economic coercion and unilateral bullying, which China strongly opposes. The U.S. side should immediately correct its wrongdoing and stop its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies. China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises," the MOFCOM spokesperson added.

On Wednesday, MOFCOM spokesperson expressed strong opposition to U.S.' recent addition of certain Chinese entities to its export control list, citing so-called involvement in military activities or relations with Iran and Russia.