U.S. president says China wants to negotiate over trade war

President Donald Trump said on Monday China had contacted U.S. trade officials overnight to say they wanted to return to the negotiating table, welcoming the news as a very positive development for the world.

Speaking on the sidelines of a summit of major industrialized nations, Trump hailed Chinese President Xi Jinping as a great leader and said he welcomed his desire for a deal and for calm.

An increasingly bitter trade war between the world's two largest economies sharply escalated on Friday, with both sides leveling more tariffs on each other's exports.

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