Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) holds a grand ceremony to welcome U.S. President Donald Trump outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on Nov. 9, 2017.
Lan Hongguang | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping “will be having an extended meeting next week at the G-20 in Japan.”
In a tweet, Trump said that he and Xi “had a very good telephone conversation,” and that “our respective teams will begin talks prior to our meeting.”
China had kept mum about whether Xi would agree to a face-to-face meeting with the U.S. president at the summit, scheduled for June 28-29 in Osaka, while the two economic superpowers remain locked in a heated trade dispute.
Trump has said he expected that meeting to occur at the high-profile summit, but had recently downplayed the impact that it could have on forging a trade deal with Beijing. Trump told Fox News’ “Fox & Friends” last week that “it doesn’t matter ” if Xi attends the G-20 or not.
“If he shows up, good, if he doesn’t — in the meantime, we’re taking in billions of dollars a month [in tariffs] from China,” Trump told Fox.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Trump’s tweet.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
–CNBC’s Tucker Higgins contributed to this report.
