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China will take action to defend its interests if the United States damages trade ties, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday [Xinhua]
The nation raised its ownership of US government bonds, notes and bills government debt, increasing $44 billion to $1.15 trillion in June, according to Treasury Department figures released Wednesday.
This is the biggest increase since March 2015.
Japan had held the position of America’s largest creditor for the past eight months, but it sold 21 billion dollars in US bonds in June.
The Treasury Department has ranked China as the biggest foreign creditor of the US for the majority of the past nine years.
US-China trade ties have come under pressure after US President Donald Trump on Monday directed US trade representative Robert Lighthizer to examine China’s intellectual property practices, despite worries about potential harms to China-US trade ties.
China on Tuesday said it will “not sit by and watch”.
“If the U.S. side ignores the facts, and disrespects multilateral trade principles in taking actions that harms both sides trade interests, China will absolutely not sit by and watch, will inevitably adopt all appropriate measures, and resolutely safeguard China’s lawful rights,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
TBP and Agencies
