and Chinese flags before the opening session of 2019 trade negotiations between U.S.

China just passed a sweeping law designed to counter sanctions the U.S.

and the European Union have imposed on Chinese officials and major Chinese companies.

China just passed a sweeping law designed to counter sanctions the U.S.

and the European Union have imposed on Chinese officials and major Chinese companies.

and the European Union have imposed a series of sanctions on Chinese officials and companies.

and EU sanctions on Chinese officials and major Chinese companies.

Over the past year, China has already sanctioned more than a dozen European academics and politicians as well as American officials, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as retaliation for previous sanctions on their Chinese counterparts.

"The companies, no matter what countries they are from, must abide by the laws in the host country when they operate," said He Weiwen, a former Chinese trade official who is now a senior fellow at a Beijing-based think tank.

Washington has also slapped sanctions on Chinese officials and companies over human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region and Hong Kong.

In January, China's Commerce Ministry issued its first order of the year — effectively a hotline for reporting sanctions, tariffs or other foreign legislation that prevent a Chinese entity from "normal economic, trade and related activities."

The Commerce Ministry could then decide to block the measure from taking effect — preventing the company from following through on the international sanctions — or allow the sanctioned Chinese business or individual to sue a foreign company in a local Chinese court