The United States has imposed military sanctions on China’s defence procurement agency over its acquisition of Sukhoi Su-35 fighter aircraft and S-400 surface-to-air missiles.

China’s defence procurement agency, the Equipment Development Department (EDD), acquired military equipment from Russia.

The US State Department said that the EDD’s recent acquisition of Russian materiel breaches Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which was signed into law on 2 August 2017.

The State Department said the sanctions applied to the EDD “for engaging in significant [military] transactions” with Russia. The procurements referred to by the State Department comprise China’s acquisition of 10 Sukhoi Su-35 fighter aircraft and an initial batch of S-400 surface-to-air missiles.

The department said that Section 231 of CAATSA and the newly announced sanctions were “not intended to undermine the military capabilities or combat readiness of any country but rather to impose costs on Russia”.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in response that the Chinese government “strongly urged” the US to withdraw the sanctions.

US urges some of potential S-400 buyers to change their minds; Turkey and India but not to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.