BEIJING, October 25, 2026 (DAILYNWZ) — China has urged the United States to abandon plans to tighten restrictions on American investments in sensitive technologies, warning that the proposed expansion could damage bilateral economic ties and undermine an understanding reached by the two countries’ presidents.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said Saturday it firmly opposed the proposal and reserved the right to take unspecified countermeasures, raising the prospect of further friction over technology and investment between the world’s two largest economies.
The US Treasury Department issued proposals on Thursday to update its programme governing American investments abroad. The changes would add biotechnology to the restricted sectors and broaden existing controls to cover high-performance computing and hypersonic systems.
Beijing said the proposal would expand China-related investment restrictions in a discriminatory manner and tighten controls further. It called on Washington to stop the planned expansion, arguing that the measures would disrupt trade and economic relations.
The ministry also said the proposal ran counter to the consensus reached by the two countries’ presidents, who have met twice in the past six months. It did not specify what countermeasures China might take.
Washington has defended the programme on national security grounds. The Treasury Department says the restrictions, which are not limited to China, are intended to prevent US capital from supporting the development of strategic technologies by foreign adversaries when those technologies could threaten American security.
Such technologies can have both civilian and military applications, making investment flows a concern for governments seeking to limit access to capabilities they consider strategically sensitive.
The existing US programme already restricts certain American investments involving China in semiconductors, quantum technologies and artificial intelligence. The proposed changes would extend the scope of those controls into additional areas, including biotechnology.
The dispute highlights the continuing tension between Washington’s efforts to limit investment in technologies it considers security-sensitive and Beijing’s opposition to restrictions it says harm economic cooperation.
The Treasury proposal remains a proposed update to the programme. The available statements do not specify when the changes would take effect or what countermeasures China might pursue if Washington proceeds.