China's ambassador to Germany Wu Ken, who was called in for "urgent talks" on Tuesday, said the incident is caused by the EU and China has to respond. He urged the EU, including Germany, to "stop immediately and correct mistake."

The EU agreed to sanction China over Xinjiang at a foreign ministers’ meeting earlier on Monday in Brussels. 

China's ambassadors were also summoned in other European countries such as Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands over Beijing's retaliatory sanctions.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Qin Gang summoned the British ambassador to protest the unilateral sanctions relating to Xinjiang that London has imposed against Beijing.

China on Monday issued a decision to impose sanctions on 10 European individuals and four entities in retaliation for  sanctions against four Xinjiang government officials and the Xinjiang Construction and Production Corps.

The first EU sanctions on China in more than 30 years and Beijing's furious response are straining relations between the two sides while the Sino-US relations have shown no signs of improvement.