US and China say trade deal drawing closer as Trump and Xi prepare to meet

US president Donald Trump at the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpuron Sunday (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

A trade deal between the United States and China is drawing closer, officials from the world’s two largest economies said on Sunday as they reached an initial consensus for US president Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalise during their high-stakes meeting.

Any agreement would be a relief to international markets even it does not address underlying issues involving manufacturing imbalances and access to state-of-the-art computer chips.