Govt to financially help companies hit by US tariffs

China will use funds collected from tariffs charged on shipment from the United States to reduce impact of US trade move on Chinese companies and their employees, the Ministry of Commerce announced on late Monday.

The ministry said in a statement that the government will encourage companies to increase good and commodity imports including automobile, aquatic products and soybeans from other markets.

Chinas latest action came after the US government started to impose punitive tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports on Friday. China then retaliated by levying duties of the same amount to defend its interests.

A spokesperson from the ministry said China will continuously assess the impact on various types of companies.

The country will also accelerate the pace to effectively utilize foreign investment and promote high-quality economic development, as well as strengthen the protection of legitimate rights and interests of its companies and people.

China's move shows that the country is deploying resources to help its manufacturers to ease the impact from the US irrational trade policies and guide domestic companies to seek new import channels from global markets such as Germany, Brazil and South Korea for different products, said Ma Yu, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.