China has spelled out punishment for foreign entities that harm its safety and interest, a day after the United States' announcement of a ban on two Chinese-owned mobile apps, TikTok and WeChat.

The Chinese move on Saturday is seen as an act of revenge for the U.S. decision on Friday that the two apps can no longer be downloaded or updated within the country from Sunday.

Foreign organizations and individuals on the government’s “unreliable entity” list — which has yet to be unveiled — cannot engage in import and export activities with China or invest in the country, according to the Ministry of Commerce’s regulations on the list.

They are also forbidden to enter China, or face restrictions on doing so, to work, study, reside, or stay for a short time.

The regulations set out 14 articles which target foreign companies, organizations and individuals who have threatened China’s sovereignty, national security and development interest in international trade or related activities; violated normal market practices or ended normal trading with Chinese companies; or imposed discriminative measures against Chinese companies.

A system will be set up to conduct investigations and decide who are to be put on the list, the regulations show.

The affected entities would be notified and given time to correct their behaviors before being listed, the ministry said, and if their conduct is corrected, they can be removed from the list.

In response to media questions, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said that the U.S. Department of Commerce’s ban on transactions with WeChat and TikTok for national security reasons severely damaged the legal rights of related companies and disturbed market order.

China strongly objected to the ban, a ministry spokesperson said, criticizing the U.S. for its groundless oppression of the Chinese owners of WeChat and TikTok. The ban would disrupt normal commercial activities, harm international investors' confidence in the U.S. investment market and damage global economic and trade order.

China urged the U.S. to stop its bullying behaviors and end its erroneous measures immediately to protect the fairness and transparency of international law and order. If the U.S. insisted on going ahead with the ban, China would take necessary measures to defend the legal rights of Chinese firms, the spokesperson said.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play