China says 'no phone call' recently between Xi and Trump

Beijing on Monday insisted that "no phone call" took place recently between President Xi Jinping and his U.S. counterpart, after Donald Trump said he had spoken with the Chinese leader.

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 percent on many products.

In an interview conducted on April 22 with TIME Magazine and published Friday, Trump insisted Chinese leader Xi called him despite Beijing denying there had been any contact between the two countries over their bitter trade dispute.

The U.S. president did not say when the call took place or specify what was discussed.

Asked about the comments Monday, foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said: "As far as I know, there has been no phone call between the two heads of state recently."

" China and the United States are not conducting consultations or negotiations on tariff issues," he added.

‘On right side of history'

Meanwhile, a top Chinese economic official said Beijing was on the "right side of history" in its grueling trade war with the United States.

Since returning to the White House in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed 10 percent tariffs on most U.S. trading partners and a separate 145 percent levy on many products from China.

Beijing has responded with 125 percent tariffs of its own on U.S. goods.

Speaking in Beijing at a news conference at which officials vowed greater steps to shield China's flagging economy from the impact of the standoff, senior economic planner Zhao Chenxin said Beijing was "on the right side of history".

"We firmly believe that if you are against the world and the truth, you will only isolate yourselves," Zhao said.

"Only by travelling with the world and with morality can we win the future," he added.

The United States, he said, "play cards out of thin air, bully and go back on their word", condemning Washington's "unilateralism and bullying".

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday defended Trump's tumultuous tariff policy -- which has sent shivers through markets -- as a way of creating "strategic uncertainty" that gives Washington the upper hand.

When asked about Bessent's comments, Beijing on Monday said that the U.S. should approach dialogue with China in a "fair, respectful and reciprocal" manner.

"If the U.S. really wants to solve the problem through dialogue and consultation, it should stop its threats and extortion," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular news conference.

Dozens of countries face a 90-day deadline expiring in July to strike an agreement with Washington and avoid higher, country-specific rates.

Beijing, however, has vowed to fight a trade war "to the end" and denied U.S. claims it is in talks with Washington.

But it has acknowledged global economic vicissitudes have strained its economy, long dependent on exports.

"External pressures are increasing," said Yu Jiadong of China's labor ministry on Monday.

"The U.S. imposition of successive high-tariff measures has created production and operation challenges for some export-oriented companies and impacted some workers' jobs," he said.