The Chinese Foreign Ministry has addressed growing concerns of protectionism leading to trade war. It comes as the US imposes new tariffs on solar cells and washing machines.

HUA CHUNYING CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON "Protectionism is a double-edged sword. When it stabs someone else, it will also hurt yourself. I call attention to China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi's speech yesterday in Santiago. Minister Wang specifically pointed out that China's economic structure continues to optimize and upgrade. In 2017, China's domestic consumption contributed 65 percent to the economy. The total volume of domestic consumption in China will overtake the US for the first time in 2018, which means China will be the world's largest market in the future. China's potential market will be 3 to 4 times that of the United States, and it is gradually turning from potential to reality. China will deal with new situations from a positive perspective, and promote economic and trade relations with other countries by making the 'cake' big".