Trump faces his greatest rival this week. He desperately needs a win

Trump faces his greatest rival this week. He desperately needs a win

Only a few months ago, the prospect of a summit between Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping looked likely to be a bruising confrontation. Last year, after Washington had imposed tariffs on Chinese goods that reached as high as 145 per cent at one stage, rhetoric on both sides hardened sharply. For many, it looked like the start of a new chapter of an existential clash between the world’s two superpowers, one that looked increasingly li…