China 'open' to talks with US amid spiralling tariffs row
China's foreign ministry has said Beijing is open to negotiating with Washington amid a spiralling tariff dispute.
This follows a report the two sides are negotiating, with American officials submitting a list of market-opening requests to China.
A foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, did not confirm the report by The Wall Street Journal, but said at a regular briefing: "Our door for dialogue and discussion is always open."
The Journal said the negotiations were led by US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin and China's economic czar, vice premier Liu He. It said American market-opening requests covered the car, finance and semiconductor industries.
US president Donald Trump has approved higher tariffs on steel and aluminium imports and a possible increase on 60 billion dollars (£42 billion) of Chinese goods in a dispute over technology policy.
China has said it might retaliate.
