China hit back at "illegal unilateral sanctions" after U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said Beijing would be among those to feel the pain of his proposed legislation, which would slap up to a 500 percent secondary tariff on those trading with Russia.

China has vowed to deepen its support for Russia after Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Moscow’s trading partners. Xi Jinping, China’s president, said that Beijing and Moscow should “strengthen mutual support on multilateral forums” after meeting Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Beijing.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to hit buyers of Russian exports with sanctions unless Russia agrees a peace deal over the conflict in Ukraine, potentially complicating Moscow's oil sales to China,