Trump to meet Chinese vice premier on Friday

US President Donald Trump said he is meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Friday, raising hopes for progress on this week's high-level talks aimed at ending a 15-month trade war between the two nations.

As officials from the two nations kicked off their latest round of trade negotiations here, President Donald Trump described it as a big day.

"Big day of negotiations with China. They want to make a deal, but do I?" Trump said in a tweet Thursday before the start of the trade talks between US and China.

The American delegation is comprised of the US Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

The Chinse delegation is led by its Vice Premier Liu.

"I meet with the Vice Premier tomorrow at The White House," Trump said.

Stocks surged after the president's tweet.

A day earlier, Trump told reporters that China, which is experiencing a hard time in their economy in decades, very badly wants to have a trade deal with the US.

Past meetings between Liu and Trump this year have yielded positive progress on trade. For example, after their meeting in January, China increased its soybean buying. And their February meeting resulted in a delay in tariffs.

The world's two biggest economies are deadlocked over US allegations that China steals technology and pressures foreign companies to hand over trade secrets.

Under Trump, the US has slapped tariffs on more than USD 360 billion worth of Chinese imports and is planning to hit another USD 160 billion December 15.