The US companies included units of Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and General Dynamics, China’s foreign ministry said.

The measures, which include freezing assets in China and banning senior executives from entering the country, took effect from Wednesday, it added.

The action follows US “indiscriminately imposing unlawful unilateral sanctions on a number of Chinese entities on the basis of so-called Russia-related factors,” the ministry said in a statement.

China said the US had “ignored its objective and impartial position in the Ukrainian crisis”, and had instead “engaged in unilateral bullying and economic coercion”.

The ministry said the US has also continued to sell arms to Taiwan, which “seriously violates” the one-China principle and joint communiqués between both countries, and “seriously undermines” China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.