At all odds

Trump has long railed against China’s trade surplus with the United States and Washington accuses Beijing of not playing fairly on trade. China calls the United States protectionist and has resisted what it views as attempts to intimidate it.

The two countries are also at odds militarily over China’s extensive claims in the South China Sea and US warship movements through the highly sensitive Taiwan Strait.

Xi and leaders from the BRICS group of leading emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — called in a statement on Friday for open international trade and strengthening the WTO.

Trump cited Russia’s seizure of Ukrainian ships last week as the reason he cancelled a planned bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.