Donald Trump has said his summit with Xi Jinping, China’s president, will be “very difficult”, setting the tone for a tense first meeting between the world’s most powerful leaders.

The US president highlighted trade as the key area of confrontation between the world’s two biggest economies, days before he meets Mr Xi in Florida.

“The meeting next week with China will be a very difficult one in that we can no longer have massive trade deficits and job losses,” Mr Trump said in a Tweet.

“American companies must be prepared to look at other alternatives.”

The meeting at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort was, however, being viewed with optimism by officials, media and experts in China on Friday, a day after it was officially confirmed by the While House and Beijing.

Vice Minister Zheng Zeguang described the summit as a “new starting point” for relations in a press conference held only hours after Mr Trump’s tweet.