There are no winners in tariff or trade wars, nor in wars over science and technology or industry, said China’s top envoy to the United States, as Donald Trump’s election win raised the specter of another bruising confrontation with China.
Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to the United States, said differences between the two nations should be the driving force for exchanges and mutual learning rather than “an excuse for rejection and confrontation,” and that the successes of each were opportunities for the other.
Speaking at a dinner hosted by the U.S.-China Business Council in Shanghai on Thursday, Xie did not directly address the U.S. election or Trump, who previously heaped tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods before agreeing to a truce in January 2020.
In 2019, China’s economy grew a revised 6.0%, the weakest in nearly 30 years, weighed down by trade war with the U.S. The economy has further cooled since, with the government targeting a modest expansion of around 5.0% in 2024, putting it on the back foot if there are fresh trade frictions after Trump takes office in January.
The Republican has vowed to adopt blanket 60% tariffs on U.S. imports of Chinese goods compared with the 7.5% to 25% levied in his first term.
Reminding the United States of the presence of U.S. companies, Xie said about 60% of the new stores opened by McDonald’s Corp in the past year were in China, while Shanghai is the only major city in the world with more than 1,000 Starbucks cafes.