White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump departs for Malaysia late on Friday night and will also visit Japan and South Korea, where he will meet Xi next Thursday after addressing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit.

A US-China trade war, which had been simmering for months, exploded into full view in early October, after Beijing dramatically expanded curbs on exports of rare-earth minerals.

Trump had quickly threatened to retaliate with tariffs and other measures, but has in recent days expressed optimism about reaching a trade deal with China.