China has launched two trade barrier investigations targeting US practices disrupting global industrial and supply chains and impeding trade in green products, in a calibrated response to Washington's new trade probes targeting China and other economies, officials and analysts said.

The pair of trade barrier investigations, announced separately by the Ministry of Commerce on Friday, are "reciprocal countermeasures" to the two Section 301 probes launched by the United States against China, a spokesperson for the ministry said.

Washington's two new probes came on the heels of the US Supreme Court's ruling that curtailed a broader tariff program last month.

The Commerce Ministry will proceed with its investigations pursuant to competent laws and regulations, and will "take corresponding measures" based on the findings to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests, the spokesperson said.

In accordance with the Foreign Trade Law and the Rules on Foreign Trade Barrier Investigations, the ministry may, in order to safeguard the order of foreign trade, "initiate investigations into trade barriers imposed by relevant countries and regions on its own initiative", according to the ministry's announcements.

These trade barrier investigations shall be concluded within six months, with a possible three-month extension under exceptional circumstances.

A day before the announcements, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao had raised "serious concerns" over recent US Section 301 investigations during his meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, on the sidelines of the 14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon.

Wang said the two nations should "strengthen mutually beneficial collaboration, avoid destructive competition, maintain close communication, and adopt a future-oriented mindset" to promote the healthy, stable and sustainable development of bilateral economic and trade ties.

Despite the tensions between the world's two largest economies, business communities on both sides of the Pacific hope that the two countries can find ways to manage differences and seek cooperation based on talks.

Sean Stein, president of the US-China Business Council, said: "If you just say they're the two largest economies, you're missing the most important part. They're also the two most dynamic and most innovative economies."

"And it is when you add the innovation and dynamism pieces that you truly recognize the need for the two countries to find ways to work together more effectively," Stein said.

According to a survey released last October by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs — a US think tank — a majority of US residents support a policy of friendly cooperation and engagement with China while opposing higher tariffs and cuts to trade.

China and the US discussed the possible extension of existing bilateral tariff and nontariff measures, and floated the idea of establishing a working mechanism to promote bilateral trade and investment cooperation during their latest round of trade talks in Paris earlier this month.

"When the countries find common ground and act on it, the benefits extend far beyond bilateral ties, particularly at a time when frequent geopolitical conflicts are severely affecting worldwide growth," said Liao Fan, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of World Economics and Politics.

However, Liao cautioned that the greatest concern lies in the erratic nature of US policies, with certain US politicians adhering to a zero-sum mindset that frequently leads to new restrictions on tariffs, investment and technology — actions that undermine the hard-won stability of bilateral trade.

"The US should abandon protectionism and unilateralism. Only equal-footed dialogue offers the best solution for finding a way forward to resolve respective concerns," Liao said, warning that Beijing's arsenal of countermeasures is fully stocked should Washington persist on its wrong course.