THE United States government decision to maintain export controls on high-tech products to China was "discriminatory," a spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce said yesterday.

"The persistent US discrimination against China is not in line with the efforts to establish a Sino-US cooperative relationship of mutual respect that benefits each other," ministry spokesman Yao Jian said in a statement.

The remarks came after the US Department of Commerce rejected the inclusion of China on its new list of license exception, Strategic Trade Authorization, this month.

"On one hand, the US is angry about its trade deficit with China, yet it restricts exports to China and refuses to facilitate imports by Chinese companies," Yao said.

Yao added that such moves are contradictory.

Yao said US exports to China have expanded rapidly in recent years, but exports of high-tech items lag far behind goods such as agricultural products.