A TRADE war between the world’s two biggest economies shouldn’t be an option, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng said yesterday at a briefing in Beijing.

    History shows China and the United States can overcome trade frictions through negotiations, Gao said, adding that spats are inevitable given the extent of trade. China will steadily push forward the bilateral economic relationship and handle conflicts in a proper manner, he said.

    “Cooperation benefits both, while confrontation can only hurt,” he said.

    U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to slap punitive tariffs on Chinese products in a bid to try and create more American manufacturing jobs. China by far has the biggest trade surplus of any nation with the United States, which has made it a target for Trump.

    No matter how U.S. policy on China shifts, bilateral economic relations will ultimately come back to a “win-win” track, Gao said. He cited past examples including the intellectual property tensions in the 1990s and currency manipulation debate in 2010 to illustrate that the countries can find common ground.

    Should the U.S. roll out specific tariff plans, China would carefully assess them and react accordingly, Gao said. The government will also use World Trade Organization rules to protect the proper and legitimate rights of Chinese companies when necessary, he said.

    Gao said that foreign investment is not leaving China and claims to that effect were “biased.”

    “In recent years, some products have indeed moved offshore but at the same time many high-end industries have moved to China,” Gao said.

    He said that consumption will continue to grow rapidly this year, while the foreign trade environment will remain complex. (SD-Agencies)