China trade deal has good chance of happening: Trump

Muscat: US President Donald Trump has said that a trade deal with China has 'a very, very good chance of happening' after meeting Chinese Vice Premier Liu He to discuss ongoing negotiations.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said that a deal "will be good for the world. Its good for us and China but its also good for the world.

"I think it is very important and we'll see if it happens. We've never done a deal like this with China and its a very unique set of circumstances," said Trump.

He called it "a massive deal. It could be one of the, I guess it is iif you think about it, the biggest deal ever made. There can't be a deal like this, no matter where you look, there can't be a deal like this.

"This is the grandadddy of them all. And we'll see if it happens."

Trump added that "it will be a much fairer deal for us because over the years we have lots a lot of money to China. China has done very well....So it will bring a lot of things back"

"I think it will be great for the US."

The US president said that there were a number of issues still to be resolved.

"We're talking about intellectual property protection and theft. We're talking about certain tariffs. It is very important that certain elements of the tariffs that is in discussion right now," he said.

"We have agreed to far more than we have left to agree to. And in fact, I think I can say that some of the toughest things we have agreed to, we have some things that are actually easier right now that we're doing."