By Musa Mdluli

MBABANE:United States(US) President Donald Trump on Thursday met face-to-face with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea-just hours after Trump hinted online at potential shifts in US defense and trade policy, FoxNews reported.

The meeting marked the final stop of Trump’s Asia trip, which also included stops in Malaysia and Japan, and focused on cooling the economic standoff between Washington and Beijing. 

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has levied major tariffs on Chinese imports- a move that prompted Beijing to tighten its control over exports of rare earth elements. Both leaders signaled interest in reducing tensions to avoid further shocks to the global economy.

But ahead of Thursday's Summit, US and Chinese aides signaled the discussion would center on tariffs, advanced technology exports, and supply chain competition-key sticking points that have long defined the relationship between the two powers. Trump told reporters he believed the two sides could reach common ground. 

After the talks, Trump said he and Xi had "an amazing meeting" and that both sides had reached “an outstanding group of decisions" on key economic and security issues. 

The United States President said Xi agreed to begin immediate purchases of U.S. soybeans and other farm goods and that China would work "very hard” to block fentanyl from entering the US

Trump said he would cut the tariff rate on Chinese imports from 20% to 10% in response to Xi’s promise to crack down on the flow of fentanyl.