China urged the United States on Wednesday to immediately withdraw sanctions that Washington imposed on Beijing as part of its efforts to pressure North Korea into halting development of its missile and nuclear weapons program.

In a news conference, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters that the country "especially opposes any country conducting ‘long-arm jurisdiction' over Chinese entities and individuals."

Hua added: "Measures taken by the United States are not helpful in solving the problem and unhelpful to mutual trust and cooperation. We ask the United States to correct its mistake immediately."

The White House on Tuesday unveiled new sanctions on 10 companies and six individuals from mostly China and Russia who it says helped North Korea develop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The new sanctions are the latest in a raft of blacklists — which extend to banks — issued in recent months to punish Chinese and Russian companies that try to evade international efforts to isolate North Korea.

More:U.S. imposes new penalties on Chinese, Russian firms over North Korea

"We are taking actions consistent with U.N. sanctions to show that there are consequences for defying sanctions and providing support to North Korea, and to deter this activity in the future," Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement.

Hua said Chinese authorities would take action themselves if needed and reminded reporters that China was already "comprehensively" implementing U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea. "Our efforts are there for all to see,” she said.

"If there are suspected violations of (UN) resolutions on the part of Chinese enterprises and individuals, we will investigate and dispose according to our law."

The White House says the new sanctions are intended to complement the U.N. ones, which target North Korea's commodity exports, including coal, iron and seafood, as well as its use of financial services firms and joint ventures with foreign companies.

On Tuesday, Russia's foreign ministry said it was preparing it own counter-measures. "Washington should have learned that for us the language of sanctions is unacceptable,” Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, said in a statement.

"We haven’t lost hope that the voice of reason will sooner or later triumph and that our American colleagues will realize the futility and harmful nature of the further unwinding of this sanctions spiral," Ryabkov said.

More:Analysis: Why the latest sanctions on North Korea may fail

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