China opposes US restrictions on DeepSeek

China strongly opposes the United States' decision to ban federal civilian agencies from purchasing products and services developed by Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek and its affiliates, urging Washington to immediately withdraw the discriminatory restrictions, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.

The ministry made the remarks in response to a media query about a US Department of Homeland Security notice made public on Monday, which prohibits federal civilian executive agencies from procuring products and services developed by DeepSeek and its affiliates and requires the removal of such products and services from their information systems.

A ministry spokesperson said both sides should make good use of their AI dialogue mechanism to enhance mutual trust and manage differences, warning that China will take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests against any actions that cause substantive harm.

China attaches equal importance to development and security in advancing AI and has introduced laws and regulations to safeguard cybersecurity and data privacy, the commerce official said in an online statement.

Chinese AI companies have consistently provided safe and reliable services to global users and complied with the laws of the countries where they operate, said the spokesperson.

By imposing discriminatory restrictions on Chinese AI companies under the pretext of national security, Washington is politicizing technology and trade issues, abusing administrative measures to suppress Chinese businesses and disrupting normal commercial cooperation in the AI sector, the spokesperson added.