Chinese and US delegations convened on Saturday morning for talks on economic and trade issues in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

The two sides will hold consultations on important issues in China-US economic and trade ties in accordance with the important consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries during their phone calls this year, a Ministry of Commerce official said in a statement on Thursday.

China's delegation is led by Vice Premier He Lifeng.

The two sides will work to de-escalate a trade war ahead of a planned meeting next week between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump.

They started talks just as Trump headed for Asia late on Friday for the first time this term.

“We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us," he said as he left the White House.

"I think we’ll have a good meeting.”

On Wednesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who is leading the trade talks with He in Kuala Lumpur, said the Trump-Xi talk would be a "pull-aside," suggesting nothing formal.

Trump later said he and Xi would have "a pretty long meeting," allowing them to "work out a lot of our questions and our doubts and our tremendous assets together."

China has not confirmed a meeting is planned.

Trump will have a long-haul flight that has him arriving in Malaysia on Sunday morning, the first stop of a three-country sprint.

Trump’s first stop is at a regional summit in Kuala Lumpur.

He attended the annual Asean summit only once during his first term, but this year it comes as Malaysia and the United States have been working to address a skirmish between Thailand and Cambodia .

On Sunday, he’s scheduled to have a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, followed by a joint signing ceremony with the prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia.

Trump threatened earlier this year to withhold trade deals with the countries if they didn’t stop fighting, and his administration has since been working with Malaysia to nail down an expanded ceasefire.

The US leader on Sunday may also have a significant meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who wants to see Trump cut a 40 percent tariff on Brazilian imports.

Brazil comes after China in having the world's second largest rare earth reserves. (Agencies/Xinhua)