China firmly opposes the discriminatory investment restriction measures imposed by the United States particularly focusing on the high-tech sector, and will take countermeasures if necessary, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.

The US Treasury Department on Oct 29 finalized a new rule meant to prevent US-based individuals and companies from investing in the development of a range of advanced technologies in China.

The White House has overstretched the concept of national security to introduce discriminatory investment restriction measures on China, which is a typical non-market practice, a spokesperson with the ministry said in a statement.

The restrictions cover areas such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence and quantum computing, with the vast majority of related industries not impacting national security concerns, however will still be subjected to the US bans, the spokesperson said.

Many US business associations and companies have warned that the investment restrictions will cause US firms to cede the Chinese market to other international competitors, seriously harming US interests, the spokesperson said.

China hopes the US will respect the laws of the market economy, and stop politicizing and weaponizing economic and trade issues, in order to create a favorable environment for China-US economic and trade cooperation, the spokesperson added.

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