US President Donald Trump has delighted global investors with the possibility of a reduction in tariffs on Chinese imports. But his apparent willingness to de-escalate America’s trade war with the world’s second-biggest economy has been brushed off by government officials in China and ridiculed online as “chickening out.

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.