China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing stands on the side of international rules on U.S.-imposed tariffs and opposes protectionism, the Foreign Ministry on Saturday. Speaking on the sidelines of a China-Central Asia foreign ministers meeting in Kazakhstan,

China and the US, the world's two biggest economies, are locked in an escalating tit-for-tat trade battle triggered by Trump's levies on Chinese goods, which have reached 145 per cent on many products.

The Trump administration has been saying that the two countries are engaged in talks to resolve the dispute, but Beijing asserts that no such discussions are happening.

The outlook of an all-out trade war between the U.S. and China remains a central question for the global economy, but the two sides appear to disagree even about whether talks have begun. President Donald Trump late Wednesday said the world’s two largest economies are “actively” discussing trade issues.