Beijing said on Thursday that it will, as always, welcome foreign businesses, including companies from the United States, to invest and operate in China, reaffirming its commitment to protect their legitimate rights and interests.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang made the remark after Washington criticized what it called China's manipulation of U.S. companies, alleging they were forced to abandon their values after comments on Hong Kong made by the Houston Rockets' general manager and remarks made by the NBA's commissioner.
The business environment for foreign investment in China has been improving, and the country has been one of the most popular investment destinations for foreign companies for many years, Geng said.
He said 97 percent of U.S. companies in China reported profits in a survey. The results were reported in the U.S.-China Business Council annual member survey, completed in June on 100 U.S. companies.
"If we believe some U.S. people's claims, are these American companies forced to give up their own values and have they all been manipulated by China?" Geng said.
China's policy of creating a sound environment for foreign investment will not change, he said.
Geng said China will continue interacting with the global community and welcomes foreign institutions and individuals to visit China for exchanges and cooperation.
Also on Thursday, addressing the city of Beijing's move to end sister-city relations and suspend all official exchanges with Prague, Geng said he hopes the Prague municipal government will soon realize and correct its mistakes and create conditions to resume bilateral exchanges and cooperation.
Prague's city council voted on Monday to cancel the partnership with Beijing, established in 2016, after it was unable to remove an article requiring its commitment to the one-China principle and stating that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, Reuters reported.
The Beijing Foreign Affairs Office said on Thursday that since November 2018, officials of Prague's new administration have repeatedly made wrong moves and improper comments on Taiwan and the Tibet autonomous region that bear on the core interests of China.
Geng said China has noticed that farsighted people in the Czech Republic, including President Milos Zeman, have condemned the wrong actions of Prague.
Geng said it is in the interest of both sides to push forward the strategic partnership between China and the Czech Republic on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.
