This is a translation by Bloomberg of a Chinese Ministry of Commerce statement.
Remarks from Ministry of Commerce spokesperson on U.S. imposing tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese products.
China has promised not to fire the first shot, but to defend the nation’s core interests and the people’s interests we are forced to fight back. We will promptly inform the WTO about the situation and work with countries around the world to defend free trade and the multilateral system. At the same time, China reiterates that we will continue to deepen reform, expand opening up, protect entrepreneurship, strengthen protection of intellectual property rights, and create a favorable business environment for companies from all over the world operating in China. We will continue to assess the impact on companies and work to take effective measures to help business.