China has appointed a new trade negotiator in the midst of its tariff fight with the United States as the world’s two largest economies steadily increase tariffs on each other’s goods.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said his nation is “not afraid,” in his first public comment on the escalating trade war with the United States, as Beijing raised tariffs on US goods to 125%.

China's President Xi Jinping called on Monday for stronger ties with Vietnam on trade and supply chains amid disruptions caused by U.S. tariffs, as he attended the signing in Hanoi of dozens of cooperation agreements between the two communist-run nations.