MOFCOM says the US should cherish its current economic and trade relations with China

Any protective measures taken by the US government would definitely hurt the bilateral economic and trade relations between the US and China and hamper the interests of the two countries' enterprises, China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) stated on Tuesday in response to the content of the presidential memorandum signed by US President Donald Trump on Monday.

In the presidential memorandum, Trump authorized the US trade representative to determine whether China's relevant laws, policies or practices would unreasonably or prejudicially hurt the US' intellectual property rights, innovation or technological development.

On the same day, the US trade representative issued a statement saying that it would launch a comprehensive investigation and take necessary measures to protect the future of the country's industries.

According to the MOFCOM statement, the US and China's economic cooperation has progressed ever since Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump met each other in April, when measures such as the launch of the US-China 100 Day Plan were agreed upon. The US should cherish the sound situation and cooperative trend of the two countries' economic and trade relations, the statement stressed.

On China's part, the country has actively opened up and worked to improve the investment and trade environment for overseas investors, the statement noted. For example, China has amended the ''Catalogue for the Guidance of Foreign Investment Industries'' several times in recent years. Currently in the catalogue, there are only 63 restrictive terms for overseas investors, down 65 percent compared with 2011.

China has also improved legislation on protection of intellectual property rights, and the achievements of those efforts have been recognized by both domestic and international communities, the statement noted.

"We want the US trade representative to respect the facts and act cautiously. If the US takes measures to hurt the two countries' trade and economic relations with no respect to multilateral trading rules, China would definitely not sit back, but would take necessary measures to safeguard our legitimate rights," the MOFCOM noted.

Source: Global Times

Editor: Camila