Trade war has cost China trillions of dollars and 3 million jobs: Trump

US President Donald Trump has claimed that China had lost trillions of dollars and three-million jobs due the tariffs his administration had imposed against the country.

Trump asserted that the United States was doing very well against China, adding that the Chinese wanted to negotiate a trade deal "very badly".

The top two economies of the world have been locked in a bitter trade war since last year, imposing tit-for-tat tariffs on goods worth billions of dollars. For the past 10 months, both the countries are negotiating a trade deal, but without any success.

"We have gained trillions of dollars... and China has lost many, many trillions of dollars, including 3 million jobs, including companies that are leaving China," Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.

"We have to stop forced technology, international technology theft. If you look at what is going on intellectual property theft with China... our country is doing phenomenally well," he said.

The president exuded confidence that the stock markets would hit a new high, denouncing reports about the possibility of a recession as "fake news".

"You know there's a chance. I don't want to talk about it, but over a very short period of time, we will hit a yet new record," Trump said.

Earlier, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that United States is the "bright spot" in the world, amid a slowdown of the Chinese and European economy.