China-US Trade: China's commerce ministry sounds concern over US protectionism

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China's commerce ministry has expressed its concern with America's protectionist policies. Its statement comes in response to setbacks experienced by two Chinese companies as they tried to seal agreements with their American partners. The ministry said it hoped the US could create a more positive business environment for foreign investment. Our reporter Wang Hui has more.

The US has blocked the 1.2 billion sale of money-transfer service Moneygram to Ant Financial, an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. The deal was nixed by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, a Treasury Department-run multi-agency panel that evaluates foreign acquisitions of US companies for national security concerns.

Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng, said that it's a shame to see a Chinese enterprise's normal business investment being hindered because of so called national security issues. He said that Beijing encourages Chinese enterprises to invest overseas legally and legitimately. That fits enterprises' own needs of internationalization and the rules of the market economy.

GAO FENG COMMERCE MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON "We don't oppose Washington's normal security investigations into foreign investment, but we are concerned about the tendency that the US uses national security as an excuse to set obstacles to foreign investment."

The Commerce Ministry also responded to another setback experienced by a Chinese company while pursuing American market. That came after the American telecom AT&T dropped a deal at the last minute to sell smartphones made by Chinese cellphone manufacturer Huawei.

Beijing called the setback a business decision. But Gao said that Beijing has seen increased protectionism in the US, which is opposed by the international community, including China. The spokesman said that Beijing believes that cooperation and pursuing win-win results is the nature of China-US cooperation and hopes the two countries will work jointly to create a positive business environment.

GAO FENG COMMERCE MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON "We believe the US will fully consider the strong willingness from the businesses of the two countries to strengthen cooperation, and work with China to create an open, transparent and convenient cooperative environment."

WANG HUI BEIJING The ministry spokesman reiterated that China and America's economies are intertwined, with bigger common interests than divergences. He said China hopes the two can work together to facilitate pragmatic cooperation, and maintain the healthy and stable development of their economic and trade relations. Wang Hui, CGTN, Beijing.