The United States has offered to hold fresh trade talks with China, raising hopes that the world's top two economies could step back from the brink of an all-out trade war.

Beijing yesterday welcomed the invitation to hold a new round of talks, adding that the two are discussing the details.

It is unclear when these talks could happen, but the news gave a lift to Asian stocks, including Chinese shares, and the yuan currency.

Officials from both sides have met four times for formal talks, most recently last month, but those talks ended without a breakthrough.

The invitation, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes amid growing opposition to tariffs from Western business circles.

Business lobbies AmCham China and AmCham Shanghai yesterday published a joint survey showing that the negative impact on US companies in China of tit-for-tat tariffs was "clear and far reaching".

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