The president-elect favours a weaker US dollar, which would make US goods cheaper for the rest of the world, although Wall Street banks think he is unlikely to get his wish.

With Donald Trump set to return to the White House, one of the biggest expectations from his second administration is the levying of more tariffs on Chinese goods - a move that became a defining characteristic of Trump's politics during his first term.

China must be careful not to engage in another round of tit-for-tat tariffs when Donald Trump returns to the White House, a highly regarded Beijing-based analyst has urged. "We need to be very careful not to fall into the tit-for-tat trap,

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Peruvian counterpart Dina Boluarte inaugurated a $1.3 billion port that could transform South American trade with Asia just as Beijing prepares for a potential trade war with the US.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will arrive in Lima on Thursday, kicking off a week-long diplomatic blitz in Latin America by inaugurating the massive Chancay deep-water port, one of Beijing's most ambitious infrastructure investments in Latin America.