China's Premier Keqiang says "There is no winner in a trade war"

China's re-appointed Premier Li Keqiang on Monday said "there is no winner in a trade war," while addressing the issue of a possible trade war between China and the United States.

Keqiang said, "The current trade volume between the two countries is achieved thanks to market demand and business rules" while calling for rational and earnest attitude while addressing the US-China trade imbalance, as quoted by China's state-owned Xinhua News Agency.

Keqiang made this remark while addressing a group of chief executives of Fortune 500 companies and scholars who also participated in the China Development Forum at China's capital Beijing which culminated on Monday.

Earlier on March 23, China had warned the United States that is not "not afraid of a trade war" while threatening to impose tariffs amounting to USD 3 billion on the US goods in retaliation to 25 % tariffs on steel and aluminium imports imposed by the US.

He called upon the international communities to safeguard the multi-trading system while opposing unilateral trade.

Keqiang further hinted upon to open up China to globalisation and invite the foreign companies to invest in the country.

Reversing the status of China being a bamboo curtain economy Keqiang said, " China will continue to promote its reform and opening up drive and improve investment environment for foreign companies" as quoted by China's state-owned Xinhua News Agency.

He further said that China is willing to adopt global technology and gain management experience from foreign countries and optimize the business environment for the latter.

Keqiang also commented upon his much-vouched "Made in China 2025" action plan. He said both Chinese and foreign companies will be treated equally. The foreign companies will not be forced to transfer their technologies to China.

He shall further work towards strengthening the Intellectual property framework in the country.

The China Development Forum, organized by the Development Research Center of the State Council, is a high-level meeting that gathers leaders from international institutions, academia and companies worldwide.