The New York Times reports, "China's leader, Xi Jinping, has offered carrots to President Trump to stop a trade war that has contributed to a sharp slowdown in the Chinese economy. On Tuesday, he also seemed to brandish a stick. Kim Jong-un, North Korea's leader, arrived by train in Beijing on Tuesday to meet with Mr. Xi during the second day of talks nearby between midlevel trade negotiators from China and the United States. Though the government said the events were unconnected, Mr. Kim's surprise visit was an unmistakable reminder that China could complicate the Trump administration's pursuit of other goals — including ridding the North of nuclear weapons — if the two powers fail to strike a deal on trade."

The Wall Street Journal reports, "Senior Chinese leaders offered in 2016 to help bail out a Malaysian government fund at the center of a swelling, multibillion-dollar graft scandal, according to minutes from a series of previously undisclosed meetings reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Chinese officials told visiting Malaysians that China would use its influence to try to get the U.S. and other countries to drop their probes of allegations that allies of then-Prime Minister Najib Razak and others plundered the fund known as 1MDB, the minutes show.The Chinese also offered to bug the homes and offices of Journal reporters in Hong Kong who were investigating the fund, to learn who was leaking information to them, according to the minutes."