China consistently opposes overstretching the concept of national security and politicizing science, technology, economic and trade issues, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Tuesday.

Mao made the remarks at a regular news briefing after the US government on Monday ordered its agencies to stop using artificial intelligence (AI) tools from Chinese startup DeepSeek.

"We will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies," Mao said.