China Southern Airlines flight CZ3001 takes off at the Daxing International Airport in Beijing, Sept. 25, 2019. Photo:Xinhua

Even as they face pressure from domestic companies to resume travel to China, US officials on Wednesday announced they would suspend the only passenger air services remaining between the two countries, in what, analysts say, could be more of a punishment for US businesses eyeing to restart operations in China rather than Chinese airlines as Washington intends.

In a statement, the US Department of Transportation said that it was suspending scheduled passenger operations of all Chinese carriers to and from the US starting June 16. The move was in response to China's "failure" to allow US carriers to resume flights to and from China, the statement said.

The move, which targeted several Chinese airlines, including Air China, Beijing Capital Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines, would cut off all air services between the world's two biggest economies and further exacerbate already-escalating bilateral tensions. It also deals a major below to airlines and all types of other businesses on both sides that rely on the air services to maintain operations.

"Washington has shut the door for negotiations ofair routes between China and the US. And he did not give US companies that need air services with China any benefit," an industry insider told the Global Times Wednesday night.

The insider, who asked to be named Li, noted that the US move will impact many parties, including US airlines and other businesses that are seeking to resume business operations following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Global Times reported earlier that US corporations such as Apple and Qualcomm might have become an important driving force in pushing for the resumption of flights to China, as they rely heavily on the Chinese market.

US airlines first suspended services to China in late January when China was struggling to cope with the COVID-19 epidemic, while Chinese airlines maintained operations. The US government was also the first to institute travel bans on China, which is still often boasted by Trump as an example of his swift response to the COVID-19.

But with the spread of the virus and the US seeing its worst epidemic, Chinese officials have also adopted what's known as a "five one" policy that allows each airline to service only one country with no more than one flight a week to prevent an influx of the epidemic, while ensuring essential travels.

The Chinese policy was not targeted at the US but applies to all airlines. Many governments around the world have also adopted various travel restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Li said those restrictions will unlikely be lifted until after the end of the epidemic regardless of the US actions on Wednesday. "There is no hope that it could be resolved. Only after the epidemic ends will there be any possibility to have the issue further discussed," he said.

Zhang Baoxin, an civil aviation industry analyst, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the US pressuring tactic was driven by its urgency to help US airlines to resume China operations, which had been a main profit generator for US carriers.

"This epidemic has impacted US airlines and caused massive losses for the US economy. It is out of consideration for economic recovery that the Trump administration is constantly asking China to resume flights," Zhang said.

But the matter should be handled through dialogue rather than pressuring and retaliation, he added, noting that China has started to launch "green channel" for travels with countries with better anti-epidemic control.