Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday that the growing number of European companies choosing to establish roots in China and expand their businesses in the country is "the strongest response" to the so-called de-risking narrative.

Mao made the remarks when asked about the contrast between the EU's talk of "de-risking" from China and the fact that most European companies continue to maintain or expand their presence in China.

According to a recent survey by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, nearly one-third of respondents reported further onshoring in China, while 68 percent said they were either maintaining or expanding operations there.

Speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing, Mao said China-EU economic and trade cooperation stems from shared interests and is essentially the result of comparative advantages and market competition.

"Complementarity is not a risk, and intertwined interests are not a threat," she said, adding that trade protectionism violates the laws of the economy and benefits no one.

China hopes the EU side will view China-EU economic and trade relations in an objective and rational way, work with China to shorten the list of problems and make the cake bigger for China-EU cooperation for mutually beneficial cooperation, Mao added.