Germany's economy minister will visit China next week, Berlin said Friday, as the EU and Beijing are locked in a row about planned new tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles.

Robert Habeck will make a trip to Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou from Friday to Sunday, according to a provisional schedule.

Topics on the agenda include economic ties between Europe's top economy and China, the world's second-biggest economy, as well as EU political developments and climate protection, an economy ministry spokesman said.

Habeck "will not be able to avoid addressing" the issue of the planned EU tariffs, the spokesman said, but insisted that "the minister does not speak and negotiate on behalf of the EU Commission -- the EU Commission does that itself".

Before China the minister will visit South Korea, where he will hold talks with Prime Minister Han Duck-soo in Seoul.

The European Union warned this week it would slap additional tariffs of up to 38 percent on Chinese electric car imports from next month after a probe into subsidies.

China responded by saying it had the right to file a suit at the World Trade Organization over the plans.

Germany -- which has a massive auto industry that is heavily invested in China -- has been worried by the tariffs, with the transport minister warning they could trigger a "trade war".

Car giants, including Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, have also expressed concerns.

A German government spokesman said earlier this week that it hopes a solution can be found in talks before the new measures provisionally come into force at the start of July.

China is one of Germany's top trading partners, with German exporters having relied heavily on business with Beijing in recent years.

But Berlin is seeking to reduce its dependence on authoritarian China, particularly after Moscow slashed gas supplies to Germany following its invasion of Ukraine, exposing an over-reliance on Russian energy.