NUSA DUA – China’s central bank governor Sunday sought to cool thetemperature on a brewing trade-and-currency war with the United States,calling for “constructive solutions” as the spat threatens to knock theworld economy.

Speaking on the last day of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Bali, YiGang warned that the stakes could hardly be higher and cautioned that aclash between the world’s two biggest economies was a “lose-lose” situation.

“Trade tensions…cause negative expectations, negative uncertainties,” thePeople’s Bank of China head told a seminar with other top central bankerson the Indonesian holiday island.

“There are tremendous uncertainties ahead of us.

“The whole world should work together to seek constructive solutions,” headded.

Yi said he had spoken to central bank governors and other top officialsfrom a string of nations amid a tit-for-tat US-China tariff battle andWashington’s accusations that China was unfairly pushing down the value ofits yuan currency to boost exports.

China’s top central banker vowed Beijing would do its part by gettingtougher on domestic copyright violators and opening up the financialservices sector.

His comments come a day after the IMF warned that the “window ofopportunity” to keep global growth on track was narrowing as the US-Chinaspat threatens to boil over and emerging markets feel the pinch from higherUS interest rates.

Tensions have soared recently with President Donald Trump’s administrationrolling out billions of dollars in tariffs against China in a bid to tackleits trade deficit and rein in what Washington considers unacceptableChinese trade practices.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin earlier downplayed the global concernsexpressed at the meetings, saying the world would benefit if Beijing isforced to changes its trade policies.

But he said he had told Yi this week about his concerns over the weaknessof its currency.

Mnuchin, speaking earlier on the Bali meeting’s sidelines, declined tocomment on whether Washington would declare Beijing a “currencymanipulator” in a Treasury report due out next week.

That would be a first for China, triggering a process that could lead topunitive steps.

Attention has begun to turn toward hopes that Trump and Chinese PresidentXi Jinping could meet on the sidelines of the G-20 summit next month inArgentina and reach some sort of agreement that would reduce trade tensions.