China’s status as the world’s largest developing country is rooted in facts and international law, and it is not something that can easily be wiped away by a US congressional bill, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Friday (June 9).

According to reports, on June 8, the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations approved the Ending China’s Developing Nation Status Act, asking to end the treatment of China as a developing nation.

“The United States is not labeling China a ‘developed country’ out of appreciation or recognition for China’s development success. The real motive behind ending China’s developing country status is to hold back China’s development,” Wang told a regular news briefing when asked to comment on the act.

Wang said some US lawmakers’ concern that China would use its developing country status to evade international responsibilities is “completely unnecessary.”

He added that China’s contribution to global economic growth, and United Nations’ (UN) regular budget and peacekeeping assessments far outweighs that of most developed countries.

“It’s not up to the United States to decide whether China is a developing country. The United States can neither deny the fact that China is still a developing country, nor stop China from moving towards national rejuvenation,” said Wang.

“The rights that China is lawfully entitled to as a developing country will not be deprived just because a few politicians on the ‘Hill’ say so,” he said.

He added that rather than trying to figure out how to pin the label of “developed country” on China, the United States might want to think about how to remove its own label of a bully and hegemony.