China's consumer prices fell for the second straight month in March while factory-gate deflation worsened, as an escalating U.S. trade war heightened worries about mounting piles of unsold exports that could drive domestic prices even lower.

The US-China trade war intensified Thursday, sending the global economy into unknown territory and dampening relief after President Donald Trump's earlier climbdown from a wider tariff onslaught against the rest of the world.