25 February

US President Donald Trump has announced he is extending the March first deadline to reach a trade deal with China.

Trump tweeted on Sunday that the two sides have made substantial progress in talks and he will be delaying the US increase in tariffs as a result.

The announcement comes as the two countries wrapped up extended high-level trade talks in Washington.

Trump says the negotiations have led to progress on intellectual property protection, technology transfer, and agriculture.

He also says he's hoping to host a summit at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to conclude an agreement with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

Senior officials from the two countries have been trying to narrow their differences over four days of talks.

The world's two largest economies started slapping heavy tariffs on each other last year. And the US is threatening to take things a step further by raising tariffs on 200 billion dollars' worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent, if the two sides fail to come to an agreement by the deadline.

NHK