Promising Land: Amid Trump's tariff

Beijing also imposed export controls on seven rare earth elements, including gadolinium—commonly used in magnetic resonance imaging—and yttrium, which is used in consumer electronics.

Vice commerce minister Ling Ji told a panel of US company representatives on Sunday that the tariffs "firmly protect the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, including American companies", his ministry said.

Those levies—which come into effect on Thursday—"are aimed at bringing the United States back onto the right track of the multilateral trade system", he told the representatives, including of GE Healthcare and Medtronic.

Also present was a representative of electric vehicle firm Tesla, run by close Trump advisor and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has extensive business interests in China.

"The root cause of the tariff issue lies in the United States," Ling said.

He urged the firms to "take pragmatic actions to jointly maintain the stability of global supply chains and promote mutual cooperation and win-win outcomes".