China rolls out new rules to step up countermeasures to foreign sanctions

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Li Qiang has signed an order to implement new rules for strengthening China's countermeasures to foreign sanctions, the Chinese government said on Monday.

The rules concern the implementation of China's anti-foreign sanctions law, which was passed in 2021. The law stipulates that individuals or entities involved in making or implementing discriminatory measures against Chinese citizens or entities could be put on an anti-sanctions list by the Chinese government.

Those on the list may be denied entry into China or be expelled from China. Their assets within China may be seized or frozen, and they could be restricted from doing business with entities or people within China.

The new regulations detail the sectors that foreign individuals and organisations can be restricted from. Those include education, science and technology, legal services, environmental protection, economy and trade, culture, tourism, health and sports.

The regulations also stipulate what steps the Chinese government can take to enforce the countermeasures, such as banning or restricting individuals and organisations from import and export of related goods and technologies.

In recent years, China has grappled with trade and investment curbs from major Western markets. U.S. President Donald Trump has hit Chinese goods with 20% additional tariffs since February and potentially more as soon as early April.

In response, China has imposed counter tariffs, implemented curbs on exports of certain resources including rare earths and launched probes into foreign companies.

The anti-foreign sanctions law is another tool China can use to push back against foreign governments for trespassing on what it says is its right to development.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom, editing by Ed Osmond)