China's solar manufacturers reported losses this week as U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war put further pressure on demand in an industry where top manufacturers were already facing low prices and tariffs on exports to the United States, Reuters reported. Top producers Longi Green Energy and JinkoSolar both reported a net loss of 1.4 billion yuan ($193 million) for the first quarter, while losses for peers JA Solar and Trina Solar totaled 1.6 billion yuan and 1.3 billion yuan, respectively.

China’s leaders are downplaying the potential impact from U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war, saying they have the capacity to protect jobs and limit damage from higher tariffs on Chinese exports, the Associated Press reported. The briefing on Monday by several senior officials of different government ministries appeared aimed at shoring up confidence with promises of support for companies and the unemployed, easier lending conditions and other policies to counter the impact of combined tariffs of up to 145% on U.S. imports from China.

China's three biggest airlines reported deeper first-quarter losses on Tuesday from the same period a year ago, amid intensifying competition and economic pressures on consumers, and a worsening trade war with the United States, Reuters reported. State-owned China Southern Airlines, Air China, and China Eastern have struggled to return to a break-even position after the COVID-19 pandemic, posting five consecutive years of annual losses.

China will not dump its goods in other countries due to its trade and tariff war with the U.S., Beijing's ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, wrote in an article on Tuesday, trying to allay fears of cheap Chinese goods flooding other markets, Reuters reported. In tit-for-tat tariffs between the world's two biggest economies, China and the U.S. have hiked levies on each other's goods to over 100% since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January, rattling global markets, opens new tab.

China's industrial profits returned to growth in the first quarter, official data showed on Sunday, but are likely to come under further pressure amid a trade war with the United States, Reuters reported. With Washington's aggressive tariffs threatening to hit China's crucial export engine hit and no time frame yet for any bilateral trade talks, economists and investors are waiting for the Chinese government to roll out more support measures to cushion the blow to the world's second-largest economy.

China called for all "unilateral" U.S. tariffs to be cancelled on Thursday, as signs emerged that the Trump administration may de-escalate its trade war with Beijing, Reuters reported. China also clarified that it has not held trade talks with Washington despite repeated comments from the U.S. government suggesting there had been engagement. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the U.S. will have a deal with China and on Wednesday said there was "direct contact" between both countries.

The U.S. is moving forward with a plan to charge fees on Chinese ships calling at American ports, part of the Trump administration’s effort to counter China’s dominance in ocean shipping and revive the domestic maritime industry, the Wall Street Journal reported. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office on Thursday released the plan to charge steep fees on Chinese-owned and operated ships, and lower fees on Chinese-built vessels operated by non-Chinese carriers. Ships will be charged for each voyage to the U.S. and not for each call at a U.S.

Chinese authorities have asked e-commerce platform operators to stop insisting on merchants refunding customers without requiring the return of goods, to alleviate financial pressure on merchants, Reuters reported. The government met operators including PDD Holdings and concluded the practice must end by July, from which point only merchants will be able to initiate a refund.