China orders US to close Chengdu consulate

China’s Foreign Ministry announced Friday that it is revoking the license for the US consulate in Chengdu.

The announcement comes in retaliation for Washington’s order to have China close its consulate in Houston, over concerns of Chinese officials being a risk to American intellectual property and the private information of its citizens.

Nevertheless, there was no detailed explanation as to why the US government had taken the decision to close down the consulate .

In an online statement, the Chinese ministry also ordered the consulate general to cease operations.

The ministry did not specify a timeline for when the U.S. consulate had to cease operations.

“The current situation between China and the US is something the Chinese side does not want to see,” the foreign ministry said in an online Chinese-language statement, according to a CNBC translation.

“The responsibility lies entirely with the U.S. side,” the statement added.

“We again urge the U.S. side to immediately revoke its relevant wrong decisions, to create necessary conditions for the two countries’ relationship to return to normal.”

Chengdu is one of five US consulates in mainland China. The US also has a major consulate in Hong Kong.