BEIJING (REUTERS) - A trade war between China and the United States would harm both countries, the overseas edition of the state run People's Daily said on Wednesday (Jan 25), reflecting concerns over the protectionist and anti-China stance taken by new US President Donald Trump.

"If a trade war developed between the two countries, both China and the US would be negatively impacted," the newspaper said in a commentary. "In the end neither side would win, it would bring harm to other countries and that harm would be brought to others without benefits to the US or China."

As both China and the US are major players in global supply chains and value chains, numerous countries would be gravely impacted from a trade war, the article added.

"At present, China and the US are bound together by trade, investment, finance and other spheres," the article quoted Zhang Jianping, head of the Research Center for Regional Cooperation under China's Ministry of Commerce, as saying.

"As the two largest economies in the world, maintaining positive trade relations is beneficial both to China and the US and also the global economy."