Trump strikes upbeat tone on talks with China ahead of crucial trade summit

President Donald Trump reiterated his confidence in striking a trade deal with China this evening after insisting that weaknesses in Beijing’s economy gave the country incentives to work with the US.

Ahead of crunch talks between US and Chinese trade representatives in Beijing later this week, Trump said: “I think China wants to get it resolved. Their economy’s not doing well…I think that gives them a great incentive to negotiate”.

He added: “The China talks are going very well. I really believe they want to make a deal.”

Trump’s remarks come amid a 90-day truce in the tariff war between the world’s two largest economies, which have been hit by months of increased trading volatility across global markets.

Negotiations later this week are set to be the first formal discussions on trade since Trump and President Xi Jinping signed the ceasefire, which was agreed at the G20 summit in Argentina late last year.

Less than a fortnight ago Trump praised the “positive progress” in bilateral negotiations, taking to Twitter to say he had a “long and very good call” with President Xi.