WASHINGTON—China is pinning its hopes on another meeting between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to help solve the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies, according to people briefed on the matter, as a wide gap remains between U.S. demands and what Beijing is willing to offer.
A high-level trade delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier Liu He—Mr. Xi’s economic czar who is holding talks with American negotiators in Washington this week—has proposed to the U.S. that Mr. Trump meet with Mr. Xi in the tropical Chinese city of Hainan after his planned summit with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, in late February, the people said.
In a tweet Thursday morning, Mr. Trump indicated he is open to a new meeting with Mr. Xi. “No final deal will be made until my friend President Xi, and I, meet in the near future to discuss and agree on some of the long standing and more difficult points,” Mr. Trump wrote.
The invite comes as Mr. Liu brought with him a package of modest concessions for the trade talks that started Wednesday, the people said. The package mostly involves more Chinese purchases of U.S. farm and energy products and promises to invite more American capital into manufacturing and financial-services sector.
But the offer falls short of what Washington has been asking for, which includes deeper changes in what it calls Beijing’s protectionist industrial policies.
In another tweet, President Trump said “meetings are going well with good intent and spirit on both sides. China does not want an increase in Tariffs and feels they will do much better if they make a deal. They are correct.”
Mr. Liu is scheduled to meet with Mr. Trump Thursday afternoon.
Write to Lingling Wei at lingling.wei@wsj.com and Bob Davis at bob.davis@wsj.com
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