The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) Photo: VCG

China strongly deplores and firmly rejects the UK's unilateral sanctions that lack any basis in international law and are not authorized by the UN Security Council, a Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) spokesperson said on Monday, in response to the UK Foreign Office's February 24 announcement of a new round of Russia-related sanctions involving multiple Chinese companies.

The UK has repeatedly placed Chinese companies on its sanctions list over Russia-related issues, and China firmly opposes these unilateral measures, according to a post on the MOFCOM website.

On the issue of the Ukraine crisis, China has been strictly controlling the export of dual-use items in accordance with laws and regulations. Normal exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and Russian companies should not be interfered with or disrupted, the spokesperson said.

China urges the UK to immediately correct its wrongdoings and revoke the sanctions on relevant Chinese entities to safeguard the positive momentum in China-UK relations, said the MOFCOM spokesperson.

China will take necessary measures to protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, the spokesperson stressed.

This is not the first time the UK government has imposed sanctions on Chinese companies. In October, the MOFCOM issued a statement urging the UK to revoke sanctions on relevant Chinese entities, after the UK Foreign Office imposed Russia-related sanctions covering 11 Chinese companies.

Li Guanjie, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Global Governance and Area Studies under the Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Monday that the sanctions on Chinese companies should be revoked as the companies are merely participating in the global division of labor and international trade, and sanctioning them on grounds relating to Russia lacks a legal basis.

The UK government should focus on bilateral cooperation as the focal point of China-UK ties, Li said.