China's Xi says he wants to work out initial trade deal with U.S.

China has invited top U.S. trade negotiators for a new round of face-to-face talks in Beijing, the Wall Street Journal said, citing unidentified sources. It added that Beijing hoped the talks could take place before next Thursday's U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

U.S. officials have indicated willingness to meet but have not committed to a date, it added, and they would be reluctant to travel for the discussions unless China made clear that it would make commitments on intellectual property protection, forced technology transfers and agricultural purchases.

Officials from Beijing had suggested Xi and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump might sign a deal in early December.

Some experts said the next date to watch was Dec. 15, when U.S. tariffs on about $156 billion in Chinese goods are set to take effect, including holiday gift items such as electronics and Christmas decorations.

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"As we always said, we don't want to start the trade war, but we are not afraid," Xi said.

In Beijing on Wednesday, Vice Premier Liu He, China's chief negotiator in the trade talks, said he was cautiously optimistic on a phase one deal, Bloomberg News said, citing people who attended a dinner event ahead of the forum.

"The two countries should really ink the deal the sooner the better, at least a truce, and that will inject some certainty into the market and the economy," Hu said.

"Based on this, we can clear out a consensus on complicated structural problems, and strive for a comprehensive final agreement."