Trump
© The TelegraphUS President Donald Trump
President Trump says the first phase of a trade deal with China looks to be ahead of schedule.

"We are looking probably to be ahead of schedule to sign a very big portion of the China deal, we'll call it Phase One but it's a very big portion,'' he told reporters before leaving for Chicago. "That would take care of the farmers. It would take care of some of the other things. It'll also take care of a lot of the banking needs."

The president's comments come after Beijing said on Saturday that phase one was "basically complete." Trade representatives from the two countries held a phone call on Friday as they continued to iron out a deal.

The tentative U.S.-China deal is said to include Beijing making concessions on intellectual property, financial services and agriculture. In return, the U.S. agreed not to implement new tariffs on Chinese goods on Oct. 15. A decision has not yet been made about the new tariffs that are scheduled to hit goods made in China beginning Dec. 15.