US President Donald Trump will meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in South Korea on 30 Oct on the sidelines of a summit in Asia, the White House has confirmed.

The meeting between Xi and Trump has been in the works for weeks but was called into question as tensions between the world’s two largest economies continued to rise.

It will be the first face-to-face meeting for both leaders since Trump’s return to office.

Trump has threatened to impose an extra 100% tariff on Chinese goods from November if China does not roll back its tightened restrictions on its rare earth exports.

The bilteral meeting will happen at the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (Apec), which takes place from the 31 Oct – 1 Nov this year in South Korea’s Gyeongju.

It is part of a wider trip that Trump is taking to Asia, which also includes a stop for him at a meeting in Malaysia on Sunday for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit.

In a press briefing on Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed the meeting between both leaders.

Ms Leavitt said: “On Thursday morning local time, President Trump will participate in a bilateral meeting with President Xi of the People’s Republic of China, before departing to return home.”