Negotiations and mutual opening of markets were the best ways to resolve trade frictions, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui said at a briefing ahead of China’s annual session of parliament, which opens this week.

“China does not want to fight a trade war with the United States, but we absolutely will not sit by and watch as China’s interests are damaged,” Zhang, who is a spokesman for parliament and was formerly an ambassador to the United States, said.

“If policies are made on the basis of mistaken judgements or assumptions, it will damage bilateral relations and bring about consequences that neither country wants to see,” he said.