Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held a telephone conversation with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday evening at the request of the U.S. side.

During the call, the Chinese side strongly protested the planned tariffs on Chinese imports by the U.S. starting September 1, according to a statement by China's Ministry of Commerce.

The two sides agreed to hold another phone call in the next two weeks.

Zhong Shan, Minister of Commerce, Yi Gang, President of the People's Bank of China and Ning Jizhe, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, also attended the call.