Claims of Chinese hacking attempts on US targets are not hard to find. Less than a week ago, a "nation-state threat actor" reported to be backed by China was accused of breaching a cybersecurity provider, and being active inside its networks for at least 12 months.

Trump affirmed that he would meet with Xi this month on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, a grouping of 21 economies. Beijing has not announced plans for Xi to make the trip to South Korea, but it’s not unusual for such details to emerge closer to the travel date.

A further increase in China’s trade surplus failed to fully offset the effects of a worsening housing market, which has left consumers wary.

Apple Inc.’s latest generation of iPhones is off to a faster start than usual, with its most basic model surging in popularity.