Beijing on Thursday warned that war-ravaged Gaza is not a political bargaining chip, following a proposal to take over the region from US President Donald Trump.

In a regular press briefing in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiankun said China firmly supports the "legitimate national rights" of Palestinians.

"Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people. It is an inalienable part of the territory of Palestine, not a bargaining chip for political games," Guo said.

"China firmly supports the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people, believes that Palestinians governing Palestine is an important principle that must be upheld in the post-conflict governance of Gaza, and opposes the forced displacement of the people of Gaza,” he added.

On a growing number of countries blocking access to DeepSeek, Guo said Beijing has never asked firms to illegally store data.

"The Chinese government attaches great importance to data privacy and security, and protects it in accordance with the law. We have never asked and will never ask any companies or individuals to collect or store data against the laws," he said.

"China has all along opposed the move to overstretch the concept of national security, or politicise trade and tech issues. We will firmly protect the lawful rights and interests of Chinese companies at the same time."

South Korea became the latest government to warn about or place restrictions on the Chinese artificial intelligence startup, saying the firm did not respond to a data watchdog request about how it manages user information.