By Liz Lee, Laurie Chen and Xiuhao Chen BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese President Xi Jinping urged top European Union officials on Thursday to "properly handle differences and frictions" as he criticised Brussels's recent trade actions against Beijing at a tense summit dominated by concerns on trade and the Ukraine war.

Yet analysts say the Chinese leader is likely holding out for concrete deliverables before agreeing to the high-profile meeting. Trump dramatically escalated the trade war with the world's second-largest economy in April, rolling out sweeping new tariffs that prompted China to respond with its own export duties and other measures.