China says US demand on its SOEs is ‘invasion’ on economic sovereignty

The United States has called on China to curb the development of its state-owned enterprises (SOEs), a demand that China sees as an “invasion” on its economic sovereignty, said Chinese state news agency Xinhua, reported CNBC.

Trade talks have stalled as China has denied it reneged on promises and reiterated it would not make concessions to “matters of principles” to defend its core interests.

“At the negotiating table, the US government presented a number of arrogant demands to China, including restricting the development of state-owned enterprises,” Xinhua said in a commentary.

SOEs in China are privileged to subsidies and other benefits such as implicit government guarantees for debts and lower interest for bank loans, said CNBC.

“Obviously, this is beyond the scope of trade negotiations and touches on China’s fundamental economic system,” said Xinhua.“This shows that behind the United States’ trade war against China, it is trying to invade China’s economic sovereignty and force China to damage its core interests.”