A United Nations Security Council meeting in two weeks could be a "very good opportunity" for Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to meet, China's UN envoy said on Monday, stressing the need for cooperation because "so much is at stake," while blasting Washington on tariffs.

China is president of the Security Council for February, and China's UN Ambassador Fu Cong said Wang would chair a ministerial meeting of the 15-member body on February 18 that would focus on multilateralism and improving global governance.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Rubio would attend the meeting.

Wang and Rubio have spoken on the phone.

"I do hope that despite all the rhetoric that we have heard from the American politicians, we can take a constructive and – I will emphasise – a professional approach to our work here in the United Nations," Fu told reporters.

"So much is at stake."

However, he did not hold back on US President Donald Trump's decision to impose 10 percent tariffs on China from Tuesday.

"We are firmly opposed to this unwarranted increase and we do believe that this is in violation of the WTO (World Trade Organization) rules. So that's why China is filing a complaint at this WTO," Fu said.

"We may be forced to take counter measures... there is no winner in a trade war," he said.

Trump suspended his threat of steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Monday, agreeing to a 30-day pause in return for concessions on border and crime enforcement with the two neighbouring countries. No such deal has emerged for China, and a White House spokesperson said Trump would not be speaking with President Xi Jinping until later in the week.

Fu also said China and the US could cooperate on combating climate change, drugs and terrorism and work together on technology like AI.

He said fragmentation on AI would enhance risk and reduce benefits. (Reuters)