As the United States and China are clashing over rare earths and tariff issues, China's Ministry of Commerce said it is continuing working-level talks with the United States and hopes the two countries' economic and trade relations will develop.
According to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency on the 14th, the Spokesperson answered this way at a briefing that morning when asked whether it was true that, after China's export controls on rare earths, the U.S. side proposed a call but was rejected.
The Spokesperson said, "Export control measures on rare earths and related items are legitimate actions by the Chinese government based on its own laws and regulations," adding, "China's export controls are not 'an export ban.' For applications that comply with the regulations, licenses will be granted as before, and through this we will jointly maintain the stability of the global supply chain."
The Spokesperson continued, "Before implementing this measure, China notified the U.S. side in advance. By contrast, the United States has long overstretched the concept of national security and abused export controls, continuing to take discriminatory measures against China," and added, "In particular, after the Madrid Economic and Trade Meeting, the United States once again added a series of new restrictions on China. We firmly oppose this."
The Spokesperson said, "Cooperation benefits both sides, but confrontation harms both," adding, "Within the current China-U.S. economic and trade consultation mechanism, both sides are continuing to communicate, and a working-level meeting was also held yesterday."
Addressing the United States, the Spokesperson said, "It is not the right approach to call for dialogue on the one hand while threatening new sanctions on the other. We urge you to immediately correct the wrong actions and engage in dialogue with a sincere attitude," and added, "We hope to manage conflicts in a stable manner and see U.S.-China economic and trade relations develop in a sound, stable, and sustainable direction."