China’s economy showed its first big signs of damage from the trade war, as steep U.S. tariffs pummeled export orders and production at the country’s factories. A gauge of new export orders fell in April to its lowest reading since Covid-19 was ravaging the country in 2022,

China is reportedly conducting a global diplomatic campaign to oppose President Donald Trump’s new trade deals with US allies. According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, Beijing is trying to reframe itself as a global rules-based order defender and make other countries see Washington as an unreliable trading partner.

The Chinese foreign ministry on Monday, said President Xi Jinping had not spoken to Donald Trump recently, nor were their respective administrations trying to strike a tariff deal. This is in contradiction to the US president’s claim in an interview with Time magazine that he and the Chinese president had spoken.