China's foreign ministry said on Monday the presidents of China the United States "didn't have a call recently," when asked about Donald Trump saying in an interview with Time magazine that Xi Jinping has called him.

The world's two biggest economies are locked in an escalating tit-for-tat trade battle triggered by Trump's levies on Chinese goods, which have reached 145 percent on many products.

The Treasury secretary said that the President Trump and Xi Jinping of China have a good relationship but that he was not aware of a call, which Mr. Trump had alluded to last week.