Beijing will not fire 'first shot' in trade war

China will "absolutely not" fire the first shot in a trade war with the United States and will not be the first to levy tariffs, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday.

The ministry's comments came as certain foreign media, citing anonymous sources, said China's tariffs on $34 billion of US goods would take effect from the beginning of the day on Friday. Given the 12-hour time difference, that would have put its implementation ahead of Washington's.

"The Chinese government has stated its position many times. We absolutely will not fire the first shot and will not implement tariff measures ahead of the US doing so," the Ministry said.