'Will have fantastic ties for a long time': Xi, Trump meeting ends in South Korea

United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have ended their meeting in South Korea, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Thursday.

The leaders of the world's two largest economies held talks for about an hour and 40 minutes, it further reported.

Trump said in the meeting that him and Xi will have a fantastic relationship for a long time.

Chinese President Xi Jinping says, "President Trump, it is a great pleasure to meet you, and it feels very warm seeing you again because it's been many years."

"Since your re-election, we have spoken on the phone three times, exchanged several letters, and stayed in close contact. Under our joint guidance, China-US relations have remained stable on the whole. Given our different national conditions, we do not always see eye to eye with each other, and it is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then..." he said, speaking to a translator.

Ahead of the meeting, Trump said he has instructed the Department of Defense to immediately resume testing nuclear weapons on an "equal basis" with other nuclear powers.

"Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately," Trump said on Truth Social.

(with Reuters inputs)