China threatens US with ‘countermeasures' as it rushes to stabilise markets
China has vowed to take 'countermeasures' against any move by the United States to further raise tariffs and pledged to take firm action to stabilise the markets, as officials rushed to contain the damage from an escalating trade war.
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China's Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday that China 'firmly opposes' any moves to increase tariffs by the US and vowed to 'resolutely take countermeasures' if it does so, after US President Donald Trump threatened to raise duties on Chinese imports by a further 50 per cent in a social media post overnight.
'The US threat to escalate tariffs is doubling down on its mistakes, once again exposing its nature of coercion. China firmly rejects this. If the US persists in its course, China will resolutely respond with countermeasures to the end,' said the Ministry of Commerce, according to state-owned Xinhua News Agency.
After plunging on Monday, Chinese markets picked up slightly on Tuesday, with Shanghai's CSI 300 index opening up 0.24 per cent while Shenzhen's startup stock index, ChiNext, gained 1.68 per cent. The benchmark Shanghai composite index was down 0.07 per cent.
In an online statement, the People's Bank of China said it would 'provide relending support if necessary to resolutely defend the stability of the capital market'.
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Central Huijin, a subsidiary of the sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp, already intervened in the markets on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, it pledged to continue to buy more exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in a bid to stabilise prices.
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