Fight to the finish: China issues trade war warning, backs more tech and innovation

China is not intimidated by US threats, said Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, vowing to "fight it to the finish", days after Washington imposed a second tranche of tariffs on Chinese imports amid an escalating trade war.

- Joyce ZK Lim China Correspondent and Yew Lun Tian Senior Correspondent

BEIJING — China is not intimidated by US threats, said Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, vowing to "fight it to the finish", days after Washington imposed a second tranche of tariffs on Chinese imports amid an escalating trade war.

The public warning by the country's top trade official came as additional US levies on Chinese goods reached 20 per cent, and could rise further.

Beijing has retaliated with its own set of tariffs on a swathe of American agricultural products and launched an anti-dumping probe into some American fibre-optic imports.

"Coercion or blackmail doesn't work on China, and doesn't scare China," Mr Wang said, referring to US President Donald Trump's threats of layering tariffs on Chinese goods.

He was speaking to the press on March 6, on the sidelines of the Two Sessions, or annual meetings of Chinese parliamentarians and political advisers.

"If the US side goes further and further down the wrong path, China will take it on and fight it to the finish," he said.

Mr Wang pointed to how US stock markets tumbled after additional levies on China, Mexico and Canada took effect on March 4, and argued that the US' actions were detrimental to its own people and businesses.

"There are no winners in a trade war," said Mr Wang, who separately acknowledged that "the development of China's trade faces a grim situation", but noted that it had diversified its trade partners.