Trump tells China's Xi open to 'historic' trade deal

Washington is open to a "historic" trade deal with China, President Donald Trump said Saturday as he met President Xi Jinping, who called for "cooperation and dialogue".

"It would be historic if we could do a fair trade deal," Trump said at the start of the high-stakes meeting to thrash out a tariff war between the world's top two economies.

"We are totally open to it," added Trump after Xi said "cooperation and dialogue" are better than "confrontation".