China will fight back if President-elect Donald Trump follows through on his promise to impose a 60% tariff on Chinese imports, according to Zhu Min, a former top official at the Chinese central bank.

With Donald Trump set to return to the White House, one of the biggest expectations from his second administration is the levying of more tariffs on Chinese goods - a move that became a defining characteristic of Trump's politics during his first term.

Word of caution from eminent Beijing-based academic comes as US president-elect Donald Trump picks string of China hawks for new cabinet.

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan called competition with China a top concern as President Biden hands the reins to President-elect Trump. He said the meeting takes place during a “critical moment between the US and China” and will “ensure that we don’t run into any problems in the next two months in this transition of power.”

With Donald Trump's imminent return to the U.S. presidency looming over the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday that unilateralism and protectionism needed to be rejected in favour of economic globalization.

As leaders from across the world gather for two major summits in South America in the coming days, the uncertainty brought by Donald Trump’s impending return to the White House is expected to loom large.