India, China should jointly resist U.S. tariff pressure: Xu Feihong

China firmly opposes the Trump administration’s 50 per cent tariffs on India, calling them “unfair and unreasonable,” and has urged India and Beijing to scale up economic ties to jointly counter the challenge. Chinese ambassador to India Xu Feihong made the remarks on Monday while speaking at an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of China’s victory against Japan.
Xu alleged Washington of leveraging tariffs to extract “exorbitant” costs from various countries, stressing that the U.S. trade war had undermined free trade principles. “The U.S. is imposing tariffs of up to 50 per cent on India. It is unfair, unreasonable, and China firmly opposes it,” he said. “India and China, as two very important emerging economies, must cooperate to navigate the situation.”The envoy underlined that both economies—with a combined population of 2.8 billion—were highly complementary and capable of driving growth. “Our economies are mega-sized, our markets are vast, and our people are hardworking. We should scale up cooperation in the economic and trade domain,” he added.
Xu recalled President Xi Jinping’s recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, where both leaders reaffirmed that stronger India-China cooperation would make the 21st century a “genuine Asian century.”On the boundary question, Xu highlighted the “important consensus” reached during the Special Representative-level talks last month, including steps toward an “early harvest package” under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs. He stressed that the bilateral relationship was not impacted by “any third country,” in a veiled reference to Pakistan.
The Chinese envoy also called for closer cooperation on counter-terrorism. “China and India are both victims of terrorism. We share common interests in counter-terrorism and have maintained communication through mechanisms such as the SCO, BRICS, and the Tianjin Declaration. China stands ready to work with India and the international community to combat this global challenge,” Xu said.Xu further noted that bilateral trade had grown steadily, reaching $88 billion in the first seven months of the year—a 10.5% year-on-year increase. He said Beijing welcomes more Indian companies to invest in China and hopes India will provide a “fair, just, and non-discriminatory” business environment for Chinese enterprises.
Highlighting people-to-people exchanges, the envoy revealed that Chinese diplomatic missions in India had issued more than 240,000 visas to Indian citizens this year, with direct flights between the two countries set to resume soon.On global cooperation, Xu urged both countries to act as responsible members of the Global South. “Together, we should advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world and inclusive economic globalisation, firmly oppose tariffs and trade wars, uphold the multilateral trading system, and safeguard the common interests of developing countries,” he said.Calling for a long-term strategic approach, Xu said: “China and India should view each other as development opportunities, not threats. By upholding mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation, we can strengthen bilateral ties and contribute to global stability.”