China's top leaders have promised to step up stimulus to bolster the virus-ravaged economy amid rising worries that job losses could threaten social stability.

"This could be huge if it goes on for months,' said one CEO.

The two sides exchanged memoranda of understanding, letters and protocols covering 33 projects in the fields of information, industry, agriculture, security and the resettlement of internally displaced people in Myanmar's war-torn Kachin State, which borders China.

Concerns over Hong Kong's political and economic future are growing as pro-democracy protests drag on and turn increasingly violent.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed last month to resume negotiations. But economists warn the truce is fragile because the two sides face the same array of disagreements that caused talks to break down in May.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte and Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a ceremony in Rome where 29 separate protocols of the memorandum were signed by both governments in front of the flags of China, Italy and the European Union.

Exports in December unexpectedly fell 4.4 per cent from a year earlier, while imports also saw a shock drop, falling 7.6 per cent in their biggest decline since July 2016.

China's economic growth cooled to its weakest quarterly pace since the global financial crisis, with regulators moving quickly to calm nervous investors as a years-long campaign to tackle debt risks and the trade war with the United States began to bite.

As most experts predict that Clause 32, will make it much more challenging for Canada to engage in trade talks with China, one study states that this is precisely what Canadian regulators need to do.

U.S. tariffs on China are just one of its challenges as its economy is slowing down.