China has warned the US it is prepared to fight “any type” of war after it retaliated against Donald Trump’s escalating trade war.

The trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies escalated when the US President doubled tariffs on all Chinese imports to 20 per cent.

Beijing hit back by imposing retaliatory tariffs of up to 15 per cent on selected American goods, expanding export controls to a dozen US firms and filing a lawsuit at the World Trade Organisation.

”If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lian Jian this week.

He said “pressure, coercion and threats” was not the correct way for the US to deal with China.

Lian also dismissed the Trump administration’s claims that China is behind the flood of the drug fentanyl plaguing the US, dismissing it as “a flimsy excuse” to raise tariffs on Chinese imports.

“The US, not anyone else, is responsible for the fentanyl crisis inside the US.

“In the spirit of humanity and goodwill towards the American people, we have taken robust steps to assist the US in dealing with the issue.”

The fiery language from the Chinese government came as top officials, including President Xi Jinping, gathered in Beijing for the National’s People Congress (NPC), which rubber-stamps decisions already made behind closed doors.

Officials announced at the gathering on Wednesday that China will increase its defence budget 7.2 per cent this year, as it continues its campaign to build a larger, more modern military.

China’s military spending remains the second largest behind the US and it already has the world’s largest navy.

Tensions with the US, Taiwan, Japan and neighbours who have overlapping claims to the crucial South China Sea are seen as driving spending on increasingly high-tech military technologies.

Those include stealth fighters, the country’s three — soon to be four — aircraft carriers, and a broad expansion of its nuclear arsenal.