Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump's top economic adviser on Tuesday denied news reports that the United States had canceled a meeting this week with the Chinese government as the two countries rush to strike a trade deal ahead of a March 1 deadline.

Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, said in an interview on CNBC that there was "no cancellation" after media reports suggested that the United States had turned down an offer by Chinese negotiators to hold preliminary talks this week ahead of a critical meeting in Washington.

Instead, he stressed that the high-level meeting later this month was "very, very important" and "determinative."

"There were no other intermediate meetings scheduled," said Kudlow on CNBC. "The story is unchanged. We are moving towards negotiations."

Markets, which dipped initially on news that a meeting had been scrapped, bounced back after Kudlow's appearance.

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