A worker walks past aluminium wires at a plant inside an industrial park in Binzhou, Shandong province, China April 7, 2018. Picture taken April 7, 2018. China Daily via REUTERS

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will retaliate if the United States insists on initiating a trade war, China’s ambassador to the United States was quoted as saying by the state news agency Xinhua on Friday.

Speaking at an event held by the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University this week, Cui Tiankai said any dispute should be worked out through dialogue and a trade war would poison the atmosphere of overall China-U.S. relations.

Cui also urged the United States to abandon a cold war and zero-sum mentality, Xinhua reported.