China Foreign Minister Wang Yi warns of decoupling ‘troubles’

China’s Foreign Minister says the so-called decoupling of the world’s two largest economies would have disastrous results.

Wang Yi addresses the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday Picture: AP

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says the so-called decoupling of the world’s two largest economies would have disastrous results and that China and the US need to work co-operatively through their disagreements.

Mr Wang’s comments came as the US and China remain at an impasse in a more than year-long trade war, one that some analysts say could lead to a widening chasm between the two countries.

“Decoupling from China’s economy would be to decouple from opportunities, and the future,” said Mr Wang, who in the past has called the US’s and China’s interests “inseparable”.

Speaking before more than 100 business and political leaders, Mr Wang criticised those who depicted China as an adversary of the US.

He said the US should “avoid picking a misguided fight with the wrong country”, and lamented the impact of the trade war as “losses that shouldn’t have happened”.

“Are we going to move ahead along the right route, or veer into the wrong one with endless troubles ahead?” he asked.

Craig Allen, president of the US-China Business Council, said that while he remained hopeful, Mr Wang’s comments did not address some key concerns of the US business community.

High-level trade talks between the two countries are scheduled to resume in Washington next month.