Xi Jinping, Donald Trump ‘May Meet in Da Nang, Vietnam’ at the End of February

TEHRAN (defapress) - The presidents of China and the United States are considering meeting in Vietnam on February 27 and 28, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

News ID: 75367

Date: 03 February 2019 - 11:01

The source said President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump may meet in the coastal city of Da Nang, where they are expected to continue pushing to resolve the trade dispute between the two nations, South China Morning Post reported.

The meeting was mentioned by Trump when a Chinese trade delegation was in Washington this week for talks. Trump said he looked forward to meeting Xi once or twice to conclude a trade deal.

No details of arrangements for those meetings were revealed, and the Chinese foreign ministry said only that Xi was willing to keep in touch with Trump through various means.

Washington is also preparing for a second summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in late February.

Trump said he would announce the date and location for the meeting with Kim early next week, possibly during his State of the Union address scheduled for Tuesday. Several locations were suggested for the summit, including Da Nang.

Both China and the United States were upbeat on progress towards settling their trade disputes after the latest round of negotiations ended on Thursday. China said both sides had a clear road map for future talks.

Following a meeting between Trump and Xi in December, the two nations agreed to suspend further tariff increases for 90 days until March 1. But the US has threatened to raise tariffs from 10 to 25 per cent on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods if they cannot reach a deal to address its long-term trade grievances by that date.

Chinese diplomatic observers said a framework that would extend the ceasefire could be reached between the two leaders in their upcoming meeting, or they may even agree to lower some of the existing tariffs.

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