China Tuesday lodged a "serious" protest with the EU for imposing sanctions on more than 25 Chinese entities.
Beijing urged the EU to "stop smearing China or shirking the responsibility to China while finding no factual grounds, and stop undermining the lawful interests of Chinese companies," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a news conference.
The EU Council Monday had announced its 16th package of sanctions against Russia and had placed 53 new entities to the list of those "directly supporting Russia's military and industrial complex in its war of aggression against Ukraine."
While a third of these entities are Russian, the rest are located in other countries, including 25 in China, according to the Global Times.
China "explicitly opposes illegal unilateral sanctions," Lin said, adding: "The normal exchanges and cooperation" between Chinese and Russian companies "should not be disrupted or affected."
Lin also said that Beijing "firmly opposed" and "has lodged serious protests with Canada," following Canada's decision to impose sanctions on its entities.
On Monday, Canada had announced imposing sanctions on 76 foreign entities and individuals for providing dual-use items to Russia, which includes more than 20 Chinese entities, according to the Global Times.
Furthermore, the spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy to the UK on Tuesday expressed Beijing's "firm opposition" and stated that "solemn representations" had been made to the UK, which had announced on Monday sanctions against Russia and 10 Chinese entities.
