ISTANBUL

China said on Wednesday that it seeks an end to US “politicizing trade” after Washington announced a ban on farmland sales to Chinese buyers and other nationals from adversary nations.

“We urge the US to immediately stop politicizing trade and investment issues,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a live-streamed news conference in Beijing.

Her remarks came after United States Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced on Tuesday that the US plans to ban all farmland sales to buyers linked to China and other adversarial countries, according to the Washington Post.

Mao accused the US of overstretching the concept of “national security,” and unfairly denying institutions and citizens of some countries their right to purchase land and property.

She noted that such “discriminatory” measures diverge from the principles of a market economy and the rules of international trade and will end up harming US interests.

Separately, commenting on US President Donald Trump’s recent remarks saying that “ties with Beijing have improved,” Mao said that Beijing has “been very fair on our trade deal.”

She noted that China has continued to handle bilateral relations between Beijing and Washington on the principles of "mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation."