THE decision by China and the United States to have negotiators meet in Buenos Aires ahead of a Dec 1 meeting between President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump suggests that the two sides feel that a trade accord may be within reach, South China Morning Post has said.

Both men will attend the G20 summit in Argentina from Nov 30 to Dec 1 and a bilateral summit is planned, most probably immediately after the G20 ends.

Mr Trump had previously reported that the Chinese had made concessions that are "very complete", with only a few things left out but "we'll probably get them too". So the hope is that intensified negotiations in the run-up to the US-China summit will result in an accord.