The US will take unilateral action to eliminate the North Korean nuclear threat if China does not help bring pressure to bear on Pyongyang, Donald Trump has warned.

Mr Trump, who will meet Xi Jinping, the president of China, for the first time on Thursday, said the US would go it alone if Beijing refuses to cooperate, but refused to say whether he implied taking military action against the hermit dictatorship.

“China has great influence over North Korea. And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won’t,” Mr Trump said in an interview with the Financial Times.

“If they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don’t, it won’t be good for anyone.”

“If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you,” he added.