Chinese officials have accused the US of harbouring “hostility” to investments by foreign government-controlled entities and of drifting towards “investment protectionism” in proposed regulations that set out how cross-border deals ought to be vetted.

The Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission said in a letter to the US Treasury that the proposed regulations left “too much room for interpretation” by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, or Cfius, an inter-agency panel chaired by the Treasury, and left the body with “excessive authority”.