China has protested a media report that said the U.S. government may block a large Chinese bank access to the U.S. financial system over its alleged violation of sanctions on North Korea. 

Beijing's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang argued in a briefing on Tuesday that the Chinese government is faithfully abiding by UN resolutions and is calling on Chinese firms, organizations and individuals to do the same. 

He said Beijing is also consistent in its opposition to Washington increasing its restrictions on Chinese firms and hopes the U.S. will strengthen bilateral cooperation with other countries on financial market oversight. 

The comments were in response to a Washington Post report on Monday that said a bank presumed to be Shanghai Pudong Development Bank could lose its access to the U.S. financial system for refusing to comply with subpoenas in a probe into violations of North Korea sanctions. 

The Shanghai-based bank’s asset size is the ninth largest in China and similar to that of Goldman Sachs.