China ready to respond to Donald Trump’s ‘discriminatory’ curbs on US investment

The US president has signed an ‘America first’ order blocking Chinese investment, saying Beijing is targeting the US ‘crown jewels’ in tech

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Donald Trump has ordered the US to “use all necessary legal instruments” to block Chinese investments. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:30pm, 23 Feb 2025Updated: 9:57pm, 23 Feb 2025

China said this weekend it was prepared to respond to a “discriminatory” US presidential order restricting Chinese investment in critical American technology and infrastructure.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump signed an “America First Investment Policy” memorandum ordering the United States to “use all necessary legal instruments” to block Chinese-affiliated investments in American “technology, critical infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, energy, raw materials or other strategic sectors”.

Those tools included the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews whether investments from overseas affect US national security.

China’s Ministry of Commerce responded by saying the measures were “very unreasonable”.

“It is discriminatory. It is a typical non-market practice that seriously affects the normal economic and trade cooperation between the companies of the two countries.

“If implemented, [the order] would further distort the investment exchanges between the two countries and bring no benefit to the US itself,” the commerce ministry said on Saturday.

“China will closely monitor the [American] moves and take necessary measures to defend its legitimate rights and interests.”