US trade spat needs 'constructive solutions'

China's central bank governor Sunday sought to cool the temperature on a brewing trade-and-currency war with the United States, calling for "constructive solutions" as the spat threatens to knock the world economy.

Speaking on the last day of the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Bali, Yi Gang warned that the stakes could hardly be higher and cautioned that a clash between the world's two biggest economies was a "lose-lose" situation.

"Trade tensions...cause negative expectations, negative uncertainties," the People's Bank of China head told a seminar with other top central bankers on the Indonesian holiday island.

"There are tremendous uncertainties ahead of us.

"The whole world should work together to seek constructive solutions," he added.