China says 'no information' on US trade trip to Beijing

Both sides ended talks last week saying they would continue negotiations despite Trump raising tariffs

BEIJING: China said on Thursday it "does not have information on the US plan" to come to Beijing to continue talks amid escalating tensions between the two trade giants.

In Washington on Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the senate appropriations committee he would likely travel to Beijing in the near future to continue trade talks, according to several media reports.

China and the US last week ended talks with both sides saying they would continue negotiations despite US President Donald Trump raising tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports.

US-China trade war escalates as Beijing returns fire

The Trump administration is also moving forward with plans to slap punitive tariffs on most remaining Chinese imports, and on Wednesday said it would put in place new restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei.

"Both sides had frank and open and productive talks (last week), but in a very regrettable move, the American side unilaterally continues to escalate the trade friction causing a serious setback for China-US economic and trade negotiations," said commerce ministry spokesperson Gao Feng.