Shanghai, China

China stocks were flat and Hong Kong shares fell in early trade on Thursday as a deadline loomed for fresh US tariffs on China and amid speculation US President Donald Trump's political position could be threatened by the legal woes of two former advisers.

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Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index opened high at 28005.330 points and soon slipped 0.66 per cent to 27744.610 points as of 10:54 am (0254 GMT).

The Shanghai Composite Index opened flat at 2714.87 points and fell 0.05 per cent as of 11:13 am (0313 GMT).

US and Chinese officials met for the first time in over two months to find a way out of their deepening trade conflict, but there was no evidence the low-level discussions would halt a new round of US tariffs due Thursday.