China set up a mechanism on Saturday, September 19, allowing it to restrict the activities of foreign companies the day after Washington announced the ban on downloading TikTok and WeChat from Sunday, a further escalation in the standoff with Beijing on the fate of the two applications.
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China's list of "untrusted entities" - whose names of foreign companies targeted have not been made public - includes potential sanctions ranging from fines to restriction of activities or entry of equipment and personnel into China.
Its entry into force is seen as a response to a similar list put in place by Washington to exclude Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from the US market and then to attack TikTok and WeChat applications.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce had called the US decision "intimidation" and warned that "if the United States persists in its unilateral actions, China will take the necessary measures to resolutely protect the rights and interests of Chinese companies" .
For the US Department of Commerce, "the Chinese Communist Party has demonstrated that it has the means and the intention to use these applications to threaten national security, foreign policy and the economy of the United States."
Washington, however, leaves a door open for TikTok, an application very popular with young people to produce short videos, before completely banning him from operating on its soil.
“The president is leaving until November 12 to resolve the national security concerns posed by TikTok.
The bans could be lifted if necessary, ”the Commerce Department said.
Donald Trump was also optimistic on this issue, stressing that an agreement could be reached "quickly".
Regarding WeChat, current users will see the application almost disabled in the United States, said a US official.
The platform, which belongs to the Chinese giant Tencent, is omnipresent in the lives of Chinese people (messaging, remote payments, reservations, etc.).
The announcement comes as negotiations with ByteDance, Chinese parent company of TikTok, to sell its activities in the United States to an American group are stalling and the Trump administration is growing impatient.
TikTok has around 100 million users in the United States and up to one billion worldwide.