BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- China has implemented a series of countermeasures in response to recent restrictive measures taken against China by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The U.S. restrictive measures seriously violated the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and severely infringed upon China's legitimate rights and interests, leaving China no choice but to respond, the spokesperson noted.
China's countermeasures include a national security investigation into certain imported office equipment with printing and copying functions, tighter export controls on drone-related dual-use items to the United States, measures against Compliance Testing LLC and six other U.S. entities, and suspension of U.S.-based certification bodies' authorization to conduct follow-up factory inspections under the China Compulsory Certification (CCC) system, said the spokesperson.
Among the measures, the ministry launched China's first national security investigation into foreign trade, targeting imported office equipment with printing and copying functions that features foreign system software.
Preliminary information indicates that such imported office equipment may affect national security interests in foreign trade.
Foreign system software refers to driver software and embedded software developed, tested or maintained by foreign individuals or entities.
The investigation will examine the importation of products under probe; the impact of imported products, technologies or services on national security interests; domestic demand in relevant sectors and the extent of reliance on foreign goods, technologies or services; the state of development of relevant domestic industries and the impact of imports on them; and the capacity and level of such industries to meet domestic demand and serve national security interests.
It will also examine the impact of relevant foreign government policies and measures on China's national security interests, as well as any other matters affecting national security interests in foreign trade, the ministry said.
In addition, exports of drones, their key components, and related technologies that are included in the country's dual-use export control list will be subject to rigorous case-by-case review when destined for the United States, the ministry said. Such exports will not be eligible for license facilitation measures.
Also on Wednesday, China included U.S. firm Compliance Testing LLC on its countermeasure list. The company assisted and supported the FCC in taking measures that endanger China's sovereignty, security and development interests.
Effective Wednesday, the ministry also imposed countermeasures against six U.S. entities that assisted and supported the United States' unlawful Xinjiang-related sanctions against Chinese companies.
The six entities are Applied DNA Sciences, Inc., Stratum Reservoir, LLC., Altana Technologies, Inc., Responsible Business Alliance, Verite Group, Inc. and Human Rights in China.
Organizations and individuals within China are prohibited from engaging in any transactions, cooperation or other related activities with Compliance Testing LLC or any of the six entities.
Separately, China's National Certification and Accreditation Administration said it has decided to suspend the authorization of U.S.-based certification bodies to conduct follow-up factory inspections for products certified under the CCC system. The decision takes effect immediately.
The CCC system is part of China's market access system, with goals including safeguarding national security and preventing market fraud. It is administered by the State Administration for Market Regulation and implemented by third-party certification bodies.
Currently, the CCC catalog contains 106 types of products across 17 product categories, covering key areas of foreign trade and people's livelihoods.
Since the meeting between the two heads of state in Busan, the FCC has repeatedly overstretched the concept of national security and introduced restrictive measures against China covering telecom operations, testing laboratories, drones, consumer routers, submarine cables and other fields, disregarding strong opposition from China and robust calls from industry in both China and the United States. More recently, it has imposed import restrictions on advanced robotic devices and power inverters, the commerce ministry spokesperson said.
In particular, despite China's repeated representations, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security added more than 40 Chinese entities to the so-called "Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act Entity List" on July 31, one day after a video call between the Chinese and U.S. lead persons for economic and trade affairs. China voiced strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to the move, the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson stressed that China's countermeasures are generally restrained, and that China cherishes the hard-won stability in bilateral trade and economic ties.
"We hope the U.S. side will work in the same direction with China," the spokesperson said, adding that China demands that the United States should immediately revoke the relevant measures, stop its wrongful acts, and return to the proper track of friendly consultation and cooperation to resolve differences, so as to jointly maintain a constructive bilateral relationship of strategic stability.
If the United States insists on introducing new restrictive measures against China, China will take further countermeasures in response, the spokesperson concluded. ■
