WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China’s leader Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump in a letter that he hopes both sides will be able to meet each other halfway to reach a trade agreement before a March 1 deadline.

The letter was read during a White House meeting on Thursday between Trump and China’s Vice Premier Liu He, who is in Washington trying to reach a deal that would ease trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

(This story corrects to show that letter was read during a White House meeting, not that Trump read from the letter to reporters, in 2nd paragraph.)