External headwinds fail to stymie tech progress

Industry officials and experts said "external forces", such as increasing trade barriers initiated by the United States, will help speed up the pace at which China comes up with new solutions.

They said that faced with headwinds from outside the country, Chinese companies are poised to speed up domestic innovation, make major changes to operational efficiency and look to consolidate cooperation with markets beyond the US.

Their remarks come as the rhetoric surrounding tariff threats between the world's two largest economies for the past two months has reached a crescendo.

A consensus shared by several Chinese trade and economic experts is that the real intention of the US' tariff measures against China is to contain the country's emerging power, seen in advanced technologies in fields such as high-speed rail construction, 5G technology and mobile payments.

Mei Xinyu, a researcher with the International Trade and Economic Cooperation Institute, a think tank affiliated to the Ministry of Commerce, said that as the US has no plan to deescalate the trade row, the reasonable choice for China is to stand up and fight for its own interests.

Mei described the situation as an "epic trade war", which is a "stress test" for the Chinese economy's resilience, adding, "We need to give full play to our system's advantage, continue to promote reform and opening-up, as well as improve companies' efficiency."

Last month, the US announced a possible list of tariff increases targeting a wider range of Chinese imports worth $200 billion. The Office of the US Trade Representative said it was considering increasing the proposed additional duty from 10 percent to 25 percent.

From Aug 23, the US aims to collect the 25 percent tariffs on an additional $16 billion worth of Chinese imports, according to the trade office. China's Ministry of Commerce responded in kind. Earlier, the two countries had imposed additional tariffs on $34 billion worth of goods from each other.