China said on Wednesday trade talks with the U.S. were an important step toward bridging gaps but what was really needed was "indispensable" multilateralism to find a way out of global trade turmoil.

U.S. and Chinese officials are set to meet in Switzerland to discuss potentially de-escalating the trade spat that has resulted in high tariffs for each country.

The Chinese government accused the Trump administration of undermining recent trade talks in Geneva after it warned that using Huawei Technologies Co.’s artificial-intelligence chips “anywhere in the world” would violate US export controls.