U.S. trade protectionism will not cure its own economic difficulties and will not secure an ever-lasting impetus for economic development, a senior Chinese official said on Monday, and called for Asian economies to open further in the face of the new external environment.

"History has proved that trade protectionism offers 'no way out,' and no countries can solve their problems through protectionism," said Zhou Wenzhong, general secretary of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) during a press conference of the event.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he had asked the U.S. Trade Representative to consider slapping US$100 billion worth of additional tariffs on China, a dramatic move which threatens to undermine the global trading system and is stoking fears of a trade war.

Zhou, who was the former Chinese ambassador to the U.S., said that the country has a large deficit because it is spending too much and saving too little. Figures show that the U.S., which accounts for 4.4 percent of the world's population, consumes about 22 percent of the world's total products, and its savings rate dropped from 13 percent in 1970 to 2.6 percent today.

With Asian economic integration, mutual trade among Asian countries has already surpassed their trade volume with the European Union (EU) and with North America, statistics show.

However, alarming trade protectionism has become one of the biggest concerns for Asian economies and constitutes the biggest uncertainties for emerging economies in 2018, according to several BFA reports released on April 8.

Ten years after the 2008 financial crisis, the propensity for protectionism is still very serious in various countries and negative influences of protectionism on the foreign trade of all countries across the world is still remarkable. Asia's export-oriented economies are bearing the brunt, says one report.

Apart from avoiding falling into a trade protection trap, these economies should further improve their comprehensive competitiveness, adapt to the new changes of the external environment, and take proactive measures to explore new growth points based on innovation, the report points the way.

Protectionism hurts trade and hinders Asia's integration process, said Zhang Yuyan, director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP), Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). "Asian economies should open further for each other in order to unleash its full potential stranded by the anti-globalization drive."

"Openness brings progress, while self-seclusion leaves one behind," said Lin Guijun, vice president of the University of International Business and Economics. "Free trade is the ever-lasting impetus for economic development."

He called for efforts to push for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and to further promote the accelerated growth of Asia's economy and trade.