The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that Wang Yang, one of the seven members of the elite Politburo Standing Committee, said at forum for Taiwanese businesspeople in Beijing that the government had assessed the impact of the near year-long dispute and estimated that in the worst case scenario gross domestic product growth would be one percentage point lower than expected.

Beijing had earlier set a target of 6 to 6.5 percent growth for the full year.

Wang, who is party secretary of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said also that the US had underestimated the tenacity of the Chinese people if it thought a trade war would “bring suffering” to China.