Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans on Tuesday to open up the Chinese economy, including lowering tariffs for autos and other products and enforcing the legal intellectual property of foreign firms.

Xi's comments come amid escalating trade tensions between China and the U.S. as the world's two largest economies take turns announcing punitive trade measures against each other.

The World Trade Organization said Tuesday that China filed a complaint challenging President Donald Trump's tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. It said China has requested 60 days of consultations with the United States on the steel and aluminum dispute. If that fails, Beijing could request a ruling from a panel of trade experts, The Associated Press reported.

In a speech at the Boao Forum for Asia, an annual summit that's been dubbed the "Asian Davos," Xi said China will take the initiative to expand imports this year and "work hard" to import products that are required by the population.

"China does not seek [a] trade surplus. We have a genuine desire to increase imports and achieve greater balance of international payments under the current account," Xi said, according to a translation of the speech.

Beyond that, he described China as a country upon which other nations had imposed unfair trade penalties: "We hope developed countries will stop imposing restrictions on normal and reasonable trade of high-tech products and relax export controls on such trade with China," he said, not naming any specific country.

In his speech, the Chinese president sold a vision of China as a benevolent leader of the global economy, emphasizing that open systems are the best course of action for the world.

"We must refrain from seeking dominance and reject the zero-sum game, we must refrain from 'beggar thy neighbor' and reject power politics or hegemony while the strong bully the weak," Xi said.

Instead, he said, countries should "stay committed to openness, connectivity and mutual benefits, build an open global economy, and reinforce cooperation within the G-20, APEC and other multilateral frameworks. We should promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, support the multilateral trading system."

"This way, we will make economic globalization, more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all," he added.