NEW YORK - Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng on Tuesday urged Washington to "return to reason" and "stop applying maximum pressure," warning that "a tariff war or trade war should not be fought and cannot be won."

Speaking at the annual gala dinner of the National Committee on US-China Relations, Xie said that "a tariff war or trade war will serve no one's interest in the end."

"China does not want to fight such a war, but neither will we sit idly by when our rights and interests are harmed, and the international economic and trade rules as well as the multilateral trading system are undermined," he said.

He called on the United States to "work with China to resolve each other's concerns through dialogue based on mutual respect and equal-footed consultation, and avoid treading the old path of escalating tensions in economy and trade, which will only lead nowhere."

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Xie urged both countries to "unswervingly keep to the overall direction of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation."

He said the two countries "need to take real action and pool synergies to advance China-US exchanges and cooperation."

At this critical juncture of China-US relations, Xie called on both sides to "join hands, build on what has been achieved, keep to the right direction, steer clear of obstacles and disruptions, and advance China-US relations along the right track of steady, sound and sustainable development."