Q: On October 19, the US Department of Homeland Security announced a ban on US federal government civil administration agencies from procuring products and services developed by Chinese artificial intelligence companies in depth search and related companies, and requiring the removal of related products and services from relevant agencies' information systems. What comments does the Ministry of Commerce have on this? A: We have taken note of the situation. China is strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed to this. The Chinese Government adheres to equal emphasis on development and security, adheres to the concept of “putting people first, intelligence for good”, ensures the safety, controllability and reliability of artificial intelligence, promotes the development of artificial intelligence on the path of compliance, trustworthiness, and good. It has introduced various laws and regulations such as the “Cybersecurity Law” and “Personal Information Protection Law” to protect cybersecurity and data privacy in accordance with the law. Chinese artificial intelligence companies have always been committed to providing safe and reliable services to global users, abide by the laws of the host country, and have been widely welcomed by users around the world. The US side ignored the important agreement reached at the beginning of the Sino-US economic and trade relationship, and imposed discriminatory restrictions on Chinese artificial intelligence companies on the grounds of so-called national security. This is a typical act of generalizing the concept of national security and abusing administrative measures to suppress Chinese enterprises. In essence, it is actually politicizing and instrumentalizing science and technology economic and trade issues and suppressing and containing them in the name of national security. This seriously harms the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, undermines the fair competition market environment, and interferes with normal commercial cooperation between China and the US in the field of artificial intelligence. The Chinese side urges the US side to respect facts and market laws, immediately correct its erroneous practices, stop unreasonable suppression of Chinese enterprises, lift related discriminatory restrictions, and create favorable conditions for normal exchanges and cooperation between enterprises of the two countries. We hope that the US side will effectively implement the important consensus of the heads of state of the two countries, move in the opposite direction with China, make good use of the Sino-US artificial intelligence dialogue mechanism, enhance mutual trust, manage differences, and jointly promote artificial intelligence for the better. The Chinese side will closely monitor the development of the situation, take all necessary measures against any act that substantially harms China's interests, and firmly uphold its legitimate rights and interests.

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