Meeting with Xi on cards, says Trump amid high-level trade negotiations

US President Donald Trump has said he may host his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at his personal Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida next month to discuss the final terms of a trade deal that is being negotiated by the two countries. Earlier, Donald Trump had said a trade summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was likely to occur next month and hailed two days of "very good talks" by negotiators. "Probably fairly soon in the month of March." Details remained scant about any concrete progress in the seven-month-old trade war, which has rattled the global markets and prompted stark warnings about the risks to the world economy. "I think there is a very, very good chance that a deal can be made," Trump told reporters at the White House on the second day of trade negotiations with Chinese officials.

The world's two largest economies are locked in a trade war since Trump imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium items from China in March last year, a move that sparked fears of a global trade war.

In response, China, the world's second largest economy after the US, imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on billions of dollars’ worth of American imports.

Top trade officials from America and China are currently holding talks in the US to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal before their self-imposed deadline of March 1.

Trump, after his meeting with a visiting Chinese trade delegation led by Vice Premier Liu He, told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on Friday that he would probably meet Xi next month.

(I would be meeting Xi) Probably at Mar-a-Largo, probably fairly soon, during the month of March. We have two schedules and we'll be planning, the US President said.

The meeting, however, depends on the pace of the US-China negotiations on a comprehensive trade deal, he said.

During a dinner summit in Buenos Aires on December 1, the two leaders agreed to give a pause to their trade war and set a deadline of negotiating a trade agreement by March 1. So far, at least eight rounds of talks have been held. Trump said that they have made considerable progress.

(With PTI inputs)