Trump expects 'great meeting' with Xi

US President Donald Trump voiced optimism Wednesday for advancing toward major trade deals with Beijing and Seoul, on the eve of crucial talks in South Korea with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

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The meeting Thursday might yield a truce in the trade war between the world’s top two economies, a possible grand finale to Trump’s Asia tour marked by praise, pomp and even a replica gold crown from South Korea’s leader.

But it looked very unlikely a new meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would take place at the close of the marathon voyage, with the US president saying “timing” didn’t work out.

Trump projected optimism on the Xi talks, which Beijing said would take place in South Korea’s Busan, when he told reporters “a lot of problems are going to be solved” at the “great meeting”.

Global markets will zero in on the outcome to determine whether Trump and Xi can draw a line under a tussle that has snarled supply chains and unsettled businesses the world over.