BEIJING (AP):China tried Tuesday to allay fears of a trade war with Washington over tyre tariffs, saying it will press a World Trade Organisation case against new US duties, but wants to avoid harming relations.

"US and Chinese trade and economic relations are the most important bilateral relations. We don't want to see anything bad happen to bilateral relations," said a Commerce Ministry spokesman, Yao Jian, at a news conference.

Beijing filed a WTO complaint Monday challenging the higher tariffs on US imports of Chinese-made tyres as a violation of free-trade rules. President Barack Obama approved the duties Friday to slow the rapid growth of imports that a labour union blamed for the loss of thousands of US jobs.