President Xi May Meet US Trade Delegation: Report

President Xi Jinping plans to meet top US officials in Beijing this week, a report said on Wednesday, as the world's two biggest economies rush to patch up their trade differences before a looming deadline.

Xi will on Friday meet officials including US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who are in the capital for crunch talks towards a trade deal, the South China Morning Post reported.

"Xi is scheduled to meet both Lighthizer and Mnuchin on Friday," it said, quoting a source briefed on the arrangements.

The US officials and their Chinese counterparts meet for talks on Thursday and Friday.

They are under the gun to seal an accord ahead of the March 1 deadline set by Donald Trump, though the US president said on Tuesday that he was open to extending that, depending on progress in Beijing.

"If we're close to a deal, where we think we can make a real deal ... I could see myself letting that slide for a little while," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Mnuchin told reporters in Beijing late on Tuesday he was eager to start.

"We're looking forward to several important days of talks," he said in brief remarks.

He and other US officials left their hotel on Wednesday without making substantive remarks.

The Chinese delegation will be led by Vice Premier Liu He, China's point man on trade, and central bank governor Yi Gang.

China has offered to boost its purchases of US imports but is widely expected to resist calls for major changes to its industrial policies such as slashing government subsidies.

The two countries have already slapped tariffs on more than US$360 billion in two-way trade, which has weighed on their manufacturing sectors and shaken global financial markets. (AFP)