US claims about national security threat from China-made cranes completely unfounded: FM

China's Foreign Ministry (FM) said on Friday that US claims about national security concerns related to China-made cranes are completely unfounded, and vowed to protect the legal rights of Chinese enterprises.

Mao Ning, spokesperson for the FM, made the comments during a regular press conference on Friday following a claim from a senior executive at Los Angeles Port that China-made cranes pose a potential risk to US national security.

China firmly opposes the US overstretching the concept of national security and abusing state power to go after Chinese products and companies, said Mao, adding that weaponizing economic and trade issues will exacerbate security risks in global industrial and supply chains and inevitably backfire.

"The US needs to respect the principles of the market economy and fair competition, and provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies. China will continue to firmly protect the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies," said Mao.

A Wall Street Journal report said that the administration of President Joe Biden plans to invest billions in the domestic manufacturing of cargo cranes used at US ports. The administration aims to replace China-built cranes, which it claims contain advanced software that poses a so-called potential national security risk.

However, observers believe that Biden's domestic manufacturing replacement plan is unlikely to succeed as it would require a huge amount of investment from the federal government. In addition, the senior executive from Los Angeles Port also noted a shortage of other countries that build the giant container-moving machines.

According to senior administration officials, 80 percent of ship-to-shore cranes moving trade at US ports were manufactured in China, CNBC reported.