A senior Chinese government official on Monday publicly warned Washington about the dangers of the current row over the US’s debt ceiling.

In the Chinese government's first public comments on the deadlock Zhu Guangyao, the vice-finance minister, told reporters in Beijing: “The United States is totally clear about China's concerns about the fiscal cliff. We ask that the United States earnestly takes steps to resolve in a timely way before 17 October the political [issues] around the debt ceiling and prevent a US debt default to ensure safety of Chinese investments in the United States and the global economic recovery. This is the United States' responsibility.”

China is the largest foreign holder of US debt, owning about $1.277tn of US Treasury bonds at the end of July, according to the Treasury. For bond holders, economists and other investors, the row over the debt ceiling is likely to have a far greater impact than the current government shutdown.

The US Treasury secretary, Jack Lew, warned again on Sunday that by 17 October the US will be left with about $30bn in cash to meet its obligations – which are about $60bn a day – unless Congress acts soon to increase the US’s borrowing limit. “Congress is playing with fire,” Lew told CNN”s State of the Union. “If the United States government, for the first time in its history, chooses not to pay its bills on time, we will be in default. There is no option that prevents us from being in default if we don’t have enough cash to pay our bills.”

Republican House Speaker John Boehner said at the weekend that his colleagues would not agree to raise the debt ceiling unless any deal included measures to rein in public spending. President Barack Obama has accused Republicans of “blackmail” in their attempts to kill his healthcare reforms, known as Obamacare.

Zhu said China and the US were "inseparable". "The executive branch of the US government has to take decisive and credible steps to avoid a default on its Treasury bonds," he said. "It is important for the US economy as well as the global economy."

"We hope the United States fully understands the lessons of history," Zhu added, referring to a similar row over the debt ceiling in 2011 that led to a historic downgrade of the US's AAA credit rating and panic on stock markets worldwide.

Zhu’s comments came as US stock markets fell following the continued impasse over the shutdown and debt ceiling over the weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 136.34 points, or 0.9%, to 14,936.24, below the 15,000 mark it reached for the first time last May. All the other US markets closed down, with the S&P 500 dropping 37.38 points (0.98%). Most European and Asian markets closed down as rises were seen in US Treasury notes and gold prices, both traditionally seen as safe havens. The dollar lost ground against the yen and the euro.

Daniel Rosen, founding partner of the research firm Rhodium Group, said political infighting in Washington was likely to have a profound impact on Sino-US financial relations.

“I believe that in the final analysis the US is going to pay its debts and is not going to default on its obligations,” he said. “Even assuming that case, it is politically untenable for the government of China to be in a position, whether frequently or occasionally, where the life savings of the country are going to eroded by the political shenanigans of another country.”

Rosen said China was looking at ways to move its huge dollar denominated investments into the private sector and out of the government’s coffers before the current crisis began. “But for the moment they are trapped and they have to deal with the portfolio they have,” he said.