Wei Jianguo, former vice-minister of commerce, said effective measures that China can take to fight back against the US involve agricultural products and high technology companies if the country is forced into a trade war.

He cited trade affecting agricultural producers in Iowa and Indiana and high tech giants like Boeing, General Motors and Qualcomm Inc as potential targets.

"The entire international market is worried about a China-US trade war," said Wei. "Once the trade war starts, Chinese exports will stumble and the imports of raw materials will be cut. It will affect the exports of many countries, including the European Union, Australia, Canada and South Korea."

"The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is also paying close attention to the issue, for fear of the negative impact that would be caused by a trade war," he added.

Bernard Dewit, chairman of the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said he is quite concerned about escalation into a possible trade war between China and the US because the danger at the end is that the world economy would suffer.

Lawrence Summers, former US Treasury secretary, stressed on Saturday that the US cannot restrain China's rise. Instead of trying that, the US should build on its unique advantages including universities, opportunities for immigrants, and areas like Silicon Valley and entrepreneurship.

Fu Jing and Zhou Jin contributed to this story.