The Chinese parliament on Thursday passed a law to counter foreign sanctions, amid mounting pressure from the United States and its allies over Beijing, state media reported Thursday.
The administration of US President Joe Biden last week expanded a blacklist of foreign companies in which Americans are prohibited from investing in the name of national security.
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Fifty-nine Chinese companies, accused of supporting Beijing's military activities, are now included, compared to 31 previously. China had deplored the initiative and promised to take measures to "
defend
" its companies. The Chinese parliament, subject to the power of the Communist Party, adopted in committee the law against foreign sanctions, national television said Thursday without giving further details.
Beijing has long complained about extraterritorial application of US law through sanctions and trade restrictions. This law will be "
a powerful deterrent [...] against foreign governments that take illegal sanctions against China,
" said the Global Times, a daily nationalist tone. In an editorial that explicitly mentions the United States, the newspaper did not disclose any of the planned measures.
Relations between Beijing and Washington deteriorated noticeably under the presidency of Donald Trump (2016-2020), marked by a trade conflict between the two leading world powers and American sanctions targeting several Chinese digital and telecom giants, including Huawei.
On Wednesday, Joe Biden decided to delay in the TikTok and WeChat file, announcing the revocation of the decrees taken by his predecessor to ban these successful Chinese applications in the United States.
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The American president nevertheless asked his administration to launch an investigation to determine the real risks posed by the applications held by certain foreign powers.