As Chinese leaders gathered for the “Two Sessions”, the most important event in the country’s political calendar, Wang took questions on topics like the South China Sea, tensions with India, and blocked seafood imports from Japan.

Yet president Donald Trump’s decision to hike tariffs on Chinese imports to 20%, just six weeks into his term, loomed over the press conference.

“No country should fantasize that it can suppress China, and maintain good relations with China at the same time,” foreign minister Wang Yi told journalists on Friday. Pointing to China’s efforts to control flows of fentanyl into the U.S., Wang accused Washington of “meeting good with evil.”

“Imagine if every country emphasised their own priority and believed in strength and status, the world would fall back into the law of the jungle,” he added.

On Tuesday, Trump’s now-20% tariff on Chinese goods came into effect, his second tariff hike on the country’s imports since taking office. The president also imposed steep 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada; he then suspended some of those duties, like those on cars, until April, when U.S. officials plan to unveil new reciprocal tariffs on a country-by-country basis. 

Tariff uncertainty is hurting U.S. markets, with the S&P 500 losing all its gains since Trump’s election last November. 

Fiery criticism

Beijing’s criticism of U.S. policy this week has taken a fiery tone. “If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” the Chinese embassy wrote on X.

Still, China’s response to Trump’s tariffs has remained relatively restrained. Beijing imposed its own duties of as much as 15% on U.S. agricultural products, including pork, chicken, cotton and soybeans. It also added several defense contractors to its “unreliable entities” list.

Beijing slapped new taxes on U.S. oil, gas, agricultural machinery, and heavy vehicles in response to Trump’s first tariff hike in early February. 

On Friday, Wang told reporters that “if you use only pressure, China will firmly counter,” referring to Washington. 

When asked about the success of DeepSeek and its AI models, Wang criticized “unjustified external suppression” of China’s technological development. Yet he noted that “where there is suppression, there is innovation.”

The rest of the world

Wang also touched on China’s relations beyond the U.S. He called Europe a “trustworthy partner,” with “the capacity and wisdom to properly resolve pending issues through friendly consultation.”

The European Union has grumbled about cheap goods from China, particularly electric vehicles. Last year, the European Commission imposed anti-subsidy duties on Chinese-made cars, alleging that they benefited from an unfair level of state support. Beijing responded with its own tariffs on goods like European cheese and brandy.

China’s foreign minister also spoke warmly of the so-called Global South, which he called a “key force for maintaining world peace.” Wang also praised Indonesia’s decision to join the BRICS, and said the group should be “made bigger and stronger to give more momentum to the development of the Global South.”

Wang also said that China’s “mature, resilient and stable relationship” with Russia “will not be swayed by any turn of events.” Chinese companies have filled the gap left behind by U.S. and European companies exiting the Russian market in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. 

A record trade surplus

Recent trade data show the challenge that Beijing faces in navigating a more protectionist world. 

On Friday, China reported a 2.3% increase in exports and a big 8.4% drop in imports during January and February, compared to the same period a year ago. While that led to a $171 billion trade surplus, a record, both numbers came in below expectations. 

Despite optimism in China’s tech sector in the wake of DeepSeek, the country is still struggling with weak domestic consumption and potential deflation, as the economy is still weighed down by a lengthy property crisis.

China’s exports to ASEAN and Latin America grew faster than those to the U.S., yet non-U.S. markets are starting to consider their own tariffs on cheap Chinese imports. The risk of a “tariff cascade” makes it “more imperative for policymakers to prop up domestic demand to cushion growth,” HSBC economists wrote in a note on Friday.