China to take ‘necessary action’ after US delists three companies

China on Saturday vowed to take “the necessary steps” to protect its businesses following the delisting of three Chinese telecommunications companies from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for alleged links with the country’s military .

The NYSE announced on Thursday that it has started the process of delisting China Mobile Ltd., China Telecom Corp Ltd. and China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd., suspending them from January 7 to 11. President TrumpDonald Trump Trump calls Georgia Senate second round ‘both illegal and invalid’ in New Year’s tweets Judge dismisses Gohmert’s election lawsuit against Pence Former GOP senator suggests forming new party and calls Trump the Republicans’ “ master of the track ” MORE issued an executive order in November banning U.S. investment in military-regulated Chinese companies, which goes into effect Jan.11.

“This kind of abuse of national security and state power to suppress Chinese companies does not conform to market rules and violates market logic,” China’s Commerce Ministry said, according to Reuters.

“This not only harms the legal rights of Chinese companies, but also the interests of investors in other countries, including the United States,” he added.

The ministry also called for the United States to consider compromising with China in order to restore bilateral trade ties, Reuters reported.

The Trump administration has escalated growing tension between the United States and China in recent weeks ahead of president-elect Joe bidenJoe BidenTrump calls Georgia Senate runoff ‘both illegal and invalid’ in New Years tweets Judge dismisses Gohmert’s election lawsuit against Pence Former GOP senator suggests forming new party and calls Trump the ‘master of Republicans’ takes office. Earlier this year, he signed an executive order allowing the United States to blacklist Chinese companies, saying the Chinese military seeks to influence “Chinese civilian companies to support its military and intelligence activities,” which , according to him, would constitute an “unusual and extraordinary threat” for the United States

Chinese officials have said they hope the new Biden administration will be able to ease tensions.

Chinese diplomat Wang Yi said he believed Biden could open a “new window of hope” for U.S.-China relations, according to Reuters.