China accuses G20 of promoting protectionism

Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson Ling Huang accused other G20 members of "promoting protectionism" on Thursday after they backed a statement criticizing heavy reliance on exports.

"China believes that taking advantage of the G20 and other multilateral mechanisms to hype up so-called 'economic imbalances' and 'overcapacity' is essentially promoting protectionism," Huang told a weekly press conference. "This will only disrupt the global economic and trade order, and harm the healthy development of the global economy."

China was the only G20 member to oppose the joint statement over references to economic imbalances. Huang also urged Washington to "immediately correct its wrong practices and lift sanctions against relevant Chinese companies and citizens."

Her comments came after United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington planned to sanction another bank over Iran-related transactions and that "all options are on the table" regarding action against China over its purchases from Iran.