The politicization, instrumentalization and weaponization of technology and trade issues by the U.S. will not stop China's development but instead backfire, China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said on Saturday.

The United States abused export control measures to maliciously block and suppress Chinese companies out of the need to maintain technological hegemony. This practice not only damages the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies but also harms U.S. companies, Mao said at a regular briefing.

The U.S. government published a sweeping set of export controls on Friday that included a measure to cut China off from certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with U.S. equipment.

In a briefing with reporters on Thursday previewing the rules, senior government officials said many of the measures were aimed at preventing foreign firms from selling advanced chips to China or supplying Chinese firms with tools to make their own advanced chips. They conceded, however, that they had not secured any promises that allied nations would implement similar measures and that discussions with those nations are ongoing.

"We recognize that the unilateral controls we're putting into place will lose effectiveness over time if other countries don't join us," one official said. "And we risk harming U.S. technology leadership if foreign competitors are not subject to similar controls."

The new measures are also aimed at crippling China's ability to build and maintain supercomputers.

Another blacklist

As one of the new restrictions, the U.S. added China's top memory chipmaker Yangtze Memory Technologies Co., Ltd. (YMTC) and 30 other Chinese entities to its so-called "Unverified List" that U.S. officials have been unable to inspect, ratcheting up tensions with China and starting a 60-day clock that could trigger much tougher penalties.

The company, founded in 2016, poses a "direct threat" to U.S. chip companies, according to the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, who is concerned about U.S. phone maker Apple evaluating YMTC chips for inclusion in some of its iPhones in China.

YMTC's memory chips are used in smartphones and computers in both consumer and business markets. The Wuhan-based company is competing with U.S. chip maker Micron Technology and South Korea's Samsung Electronics to make the world's best products.

The U.S. also removed a unit of Wuxi Biologics, maker of ingredients for AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, from the unverified list, as U.S. officials found their way to inspect the company in June.

In a separate event, the U.S. Defense Department blacklisted 13 Chinese companies, including drone maker DJI and network security provider Qihoo 360. 

(With input from agencies)