Trade tensions between the US and China could rapidly rekindle despite rising hopes of a deal, analysts have warned, after Donald Trump promised to pause the launch of higher import tariffs on Chinese goods.

The US president announced late on Sunday that he would delay raising tariffs on as much as $200bn (£153bn) of Chinese goods from 10% to 25% after progress was made in talks between Washington and Beijing, averting the imposition of the higher rate from 1 March.

Analysts, however, struck a note of caution after Trump told a group of US governors on Monday that, while he hoped a trade deal could be swiftly reached, there was still a chance that it might not.

“Might not happen at all,” he said. “But I think it’s going to happen and it could happen fairly soon. The relationship [with China] is great.”

Financial markets around the world jumped after Trump first signalled the easing of trade tensions on Twitter late on Sunday, saying that “substantial progress” had been made in talks between the US and China. He also said that should additional progress be made then meetings could take place between himself and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, to conclude a deal.

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) I am pleased to report that the U.S. has made substantial progress in our trade talks with China on important structural issues including intellectual property protection, technology transfer, agriculture, services, currency, and many other issues. As a result of these very......

The Dow Jones industrial average was up by more than 150 points in early trading in New York, while markets across Europe also rallied.

Chinese stock markets leapt into bull market territory, having recovered by more than 20% from the depths of a slump at the start of this year. The FTSE 100 was, however, little changed.

Economists sounded a note of caution over the chances of complete resolution of the US-China trade dispute, which has rattled the global economy over the past year, as a drag on world trade. Xinhua, the Chinese state-run, news agency also cautioned that talks would be harder in the final stages.

Paul Donovan, the chief economist of UBS Global Wealth Management, said: “It has been clear for some time the US president was keen for a trade deal. At times almost desperate for a trade deal. While a positive reaction is justified, there is perhaps a limit to the upside.”

Despite the apparent progress, many Chinese goods are still subject to 10% tariffs on arrival in the US. There are also several major stumbling points to overcome, including on the “verification and enforcement” of US intellectual property used in China, particularly in the technology industry.

Louis Kuijs, the head of Asia economics at the consultancy Oxford Economics, said that the president’s comments were “clearly not the end of the negotiations, let alone the underlying tension between the two countries”.

“There is no reason to turn overoptimistic,” he said. “We don’t expect the existing tariffs to be reduced any time soon.”