WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump said in an interview aired Tuesday that he could see himself directly dealing with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the final details of a US-China trade deal.

"Yeah, I could see that. I mean, I’m not sure that it’ll be necessary, but that happened with the UK," Trump told Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity.

He reiterated that he has always had a "good relationship" with Xi, for whom he said he has a lot of respect.

"One of the things I think that could be most exciting for us and also for China is that we're trying to open up China. Because as you know, many years ago, we opened up the USA. Now it's time for China to open up, and that's part of our deal, and we're going to open up China," Trump said.

He said "the most exciting part" of the deal is the opening up of China to US business.

"And that would be like opening up a whole new world, and I think it would be even better for China," he added.

The US and China concluded intensive trade negotiations in Geneva, Switzerland last weekend.

The talks yielded an agreement to significantly reduce tariffs for an initial 90-day period, with the US dropping its tariff on Chinese imports from 145% to 30% while China will reduce its import duty on American goods to 10% from 125%.

The negotiations, described as "constructive" by both sides, represent a breakthrough after months of deteriorating relations following Trump's steep tariff increases earlier this year.