‘Not on my watch’: China won’t be number one in the world, says Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump has vowed that China will not become the world’s top superpower under his watch.

In an interview with Fox News Trump said he was “very happy” with the trade war. “We’re taking in billions of dollars,” he said, when asked about the endgame in the trade conflict. “China is obviously not doing well like us.”

Trump’s comments signal he is in no rush to get back to negotiating with Beijing after talks to end the trade conflict fell apart earlier this month. He has since raised tariffs on Chinese goods and moved to restrict Huawei Technologies’ access to the US market.

The Chinese telecom giant and scores of its affiliates have been placed on a blacklist curtailing access to key American suppliers.

China’s economy was “not great” at the moment, Trump said. “Our economy has been fantastic. Because they were catching us, they were going to be bigger than us. If Hillary Clinton became president, China would have been a much bigger economy than us by the end of her term. And now it’s not even going to be close.”