China criticizes U.S. order to levy docking fees on Chinese vessels

China's Foreign Ministry slammed on Thursday a United States executive order levying U.S. port docking fees on any ship that is part of a fleet that includes Chinese-built or Chinese-flagged vessels, saying the move to scapegoat China lacks factual basis and goes against economic common sense.

U.S. President Donald Trump signed the executive order on Wednesday, which is reportedly aimed at reviving U.S. shipbuilding and reducing China's presence in the global shipping industry.

The development of China's shipbuilding industry is a result of technological innovation by individual companies and their active participation in market competition, which greatly contribute to global trade and the stable and safe functioning of the global industrial and supply chains, the ministry's spokesman Lin Jian told a daily news briefing.

He cited various U.S. research reports saying that the U.S. shipbuilding industry lost its competitive advantage many years ago due to overprotection.

The unilateral and protectionist practices of the U.S. will find no support, Lin warned. Instead, they will only push up the global costs of maritime shipping, destabilize the global supply chains, harm the interests of all countries and ultimately result in the failure in its attempts to revitalize U.S. shipbuilding industry, Lin said.