China's ambassador to the United States, Xie Feng, has urged Washington to seek common ground with Beijing and pursue peaceful coexistence while warning that China stood ready to retaliate in the escalating trade war.

Speaking at a public event in Washington on Saturday, details of which were posted on the Chinese embassy's web site, Xie said tariffs would devastate the global economy and drew a parallel between the Great Depression and tariffs imposed by the U.S. in 1930.

Referring to concepts in traditional Chinese medicine like the need to balance the opposing forces of yin and yang, Xie said harmony should guide relations between the world’s two largest economies.

"A good traditional Chinese medicine recipe usually combines many different ingredients which reinforce one another and creates the best medical effect," he said.

"Likewise, the earth is big enough to accommodate both China and the U.S.," he said. "We should pursue peaceful coexistence rather than collide head-on, and help each other succeed rather than get caught in a lose-lose scenario."

US President Donald Trump said on Friday the U.S. is having good conversations privately with China amid the two countries' trade war.

"By the way, we have nice conversations going with China," he told reporters at the White House. "It's, like, really very good."

Tit-for-tat retaliation has pushed US levies imposed on China to 145 percent and Beijing's toll on American goods to 125 percent. (Reuters)