China's Wang Yi tells Blinken US should lift sanctions on Chinese firms

• Washington should lift sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals, and that attempts to de-couple from China would only hurt the United States, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
• Washington has imposed sanctions on various Chinese companies that it accuses of working with China's military despite denials from the firms.
• Sino-U.S. relations have shown signs of improvement in recent months as both sides took steps to re-establish channels of communication after ties between the two global superpowers sank to their lowest levels in decades.

Washington should lift sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals, and that attempts to de-couple from China would only hurt the United States, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

The United States should lift the sanctions and not harm China's legitimate development rights, Wang told Blinken on Friday on the sidelines of a Munich security conference, according to a statement from China's foreign ministry.

Washington has imposed sanctions on various Chinese companies that it accuses of working with China's military despite denials from the firms. U.S. sanctions have also been imposed on individuals and entities over alleged human rights abuses in the Chinese region of Xinjiang.

Sino-U.S. relations have shown signs of improvement in recent months as both sides took steps to re-establish channels of communication after ties between the two global superpowers sank to their lowest levels in decades.

But many points of friction remain.

The Biden administration has imposed bans on the sale of certain technologies to Chinese companies, citing national security risks. China has accused Washington