China on Tuesday expressed unwillingness to hold talks with the United States toward the resolution of an escalating trade war as long as Washington continues to step up tariff measures.

Without "sincerity and a fifty-fifty relationship," China would not resume dialogue with the United States, Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen, who is in charge of trade negotiations with Washington, said at a press conference.

The United States and China planned to hold ministerial-level trade talks in Washington later this month, but Wang's remarks suggested Beijing will not sit at the negotiating table anytime soon.

On Monday, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump invoked tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports. With this third round of tariffs, Washington is now taxing around half of the products it imports from Beijing each year.

China immediately took retaliatory action, slapping additional tariffs on $60 billion in U.S. imports, which means Beijing has so far levied tariffs on more than 80 percent of all goods from the United States, together with the previous ones.

Meanwhile, Lian Weiliang, Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a separate press conference that China can curb the negative impact on its economy of a trade dispute with the United States.

Lian, who observes macroeconomic policy, said China will bolster domestic demand by propping up consumer spending in an attempt to offset a possible downturn in exports.