BEIJING--China's Commerce Ministry criticized an updated U.S. report on Beijing's trade practices that says the country has coerced American companies to hand over leading-edge technology.

The report disregards facts and is "totally unacceptable," said spokesman Gao Feng at a routine briefing Thursday.

He said officials from the two countries are maintaining "close contacts" before a planned meeting between President Xi Jinping and President Trump later this month. Mr. Gao called on the U.S. to cease all remarks and actions that could harm the bilateral relationship.

The U.S. trade representative's office Tuesday released a 50-page report on Chinese trade practices, which updates a study issued in March. The revised report said China continues to use unfair practices to illicitly obtain U.S. technology, including cybertheft, espionage and government pressure.

The Trump administration has used the March report as the basis for levying tariffs on $250 billion of Chinese goods, about half of what China sends to the U.S. annually.

At Thursday's briefing, Mr. Gao said that the government is evaluating possible measures Washington could adopt to restrict U.S. technology companies' exports and that it would implement measures to protect the domestic industry's interests.

--Lin Zhu

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 22, 2018 04:11 ET (09:11 GMT)