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Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with US President Donald Trump on the phone on Tuesday, at the request of the latter, and agreed on a meeting later this month, sending some positive signal for a possible breakthrough to the stalled trade talks between the two countries.

China-US relations have encountered some difficulties, which are not in the interest of the two sides, Xi said. 

The two sides should, in accordance with the previous consensus, promote bilateral relations based on coordination, cooperation and stability, he noted, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

Xi said he is willing to hold a meeting with Trump to exchange views on fundamental issues concerning the development of China-US relations.

As the world's two largest economies, China and the US have to play leading roles in boosting the G20 meeting to achieve positive results, Xi said. 

Trump tweeted Tuesday that he had a very good telephone conversation with Xi, and will have an extended meeting next week at the G20, and that their respective teams will begin talks prior to their meeting. 

Major stock markets were boosted by news of the upcoming meeting, as an escalating trade war cast a shadow over the global economic outlook.

Xi emphasized that on economic and trade issues, China and the US should solve problems through equal dialogue and should take care of each other's legitimate concerns. 

"We also hope that the US will treat Chinese companies fairly. I agree that trade negotiating teams of the two sides will maintain communication on how to resolve differences," the Chinese president said. 

Trump taking the initiative of reaching out to Xi shows that the US president is now under tremendous pressure, especially as the presidential election campaign has begun and the US economy has become too vulnerable, analysts said. 

"The US Federal Reserve is likely to cut interest rates as the economic outlook is not that promising amid the escalating trade war, and the job market has not met market expectations," said Bai Ming, deputy director of the Ministry of Commerce's International Market Research Institute. 

The China-US trade talks have been stalled since early last month, after the US broke a month-long truce by increasing tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods and blacklisting Chinese telecom firm Huawei.

Many US companies, which used to be Trump supporters, are now pressuring him not to expand tariffs as the trade war is hurting their interests and the supply chain, Bai said.