China urges U.S. to stop groundless suppression of Chinese apps

A booth of Alipay is seen during the Alibaba E-commerce Expo in Sydney, Australia, Sept. 21, 2018. (Xinhua/Bai Xuefei)

BEIJING, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Wednesday said the U.S. side should stop its groundless suppression of Chinese applications and restrictions on the normal use of Chinese products and services in the United States.

"We will firmly support enterprises to safeguard their rights and interests in accordance with the law, and reserve the right to take necessary measures," an MOC spokesperson said an online response to a press request for comments on the U.S. executive order that bans transactions involving eight Chinese APPs.

The U.S. move has deviated from the principle of fair competition, violates international economic and trade rules, and undermines normal market order, the spokesperson said, adding that it also harms the interests of consumers, including U.S. users, and will weaken the confidence of global investors in the U.S. business environment.

The spokesperson said the eight apps affected by the U.S. executive order are widely welcomed by the market and consumers, and have facilitated contactless payment, people's communication, and work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. restrictions on the apps will not help prevention and control of the disease, nor economic recovery, the spokesperson added.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Wednesday also condemned the U.S. ban on the pretext of protecting U.S. citizens' privacy and data security.

"This is another example of the U.S. side stretching the concept of national security and abusing state power to groundlessly suppress foreign companies," spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a daily news briefing.