Donald Trump's grandchildren sing in Mandarin for Chinese President during Mar-a-Lago meeting

‘Very proud of Arabella and Joseph for their performance in honour of President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan’s official visit to the US!’ says Ivanka Trump

Donald Trump’s grandchildren have serenaded the Chinese President with a traditional folk song in Mandarin.

Ivanka Trump’s two oldest children, Arabella and Joseph Kushner, performed the song and recited poetry for Xi Jinping during the leader’s first meeting at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Arabella Kushner, the five-year-old daughter of senior Trump advisor Jared Kushner and Ms Trump, has been learning Mandarin since she was a toddler.

Ms Trump, the President’s third child who is said to be his “favourite”, shared a video of the private concert held at her father’s opulent 126-room resort. The children can be seen singing as their mother stands next to them and Mr Trump and Mr Xi stand opposite watching and smiling.

“We wanted to make you feel at home,” Ms Trump can be heard saying in the clip.

“Very proud of Arabella and Joseph for their performance in honour of President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan’s official visit to the US!” Ms Trump captioned the video which has since been retweeted to Mr Trump’s 27 million followers.

This is by no means the first time Arabella has performed in Mandarin. A clip of the young girl reciting Chinese poetry went viral in China shortly after Mr Trump won the election.

Her mother is said to be the most popular of the Trump family in China. Ms Trump, a former executive of the Trump Organisation, is known as “baifumei” – white, rich and beautiful – in the country and much of the Chinese public believe she has softened her father’s confrontational and aggressive approach to the country.

Mr Trump and Mr Xi shook hands and flashed smiles during their meeting at the President’s Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach. The leaders of the world’s two biggest economies then formally posed with their wives, Melania Trump and Peng Liyuan, on the steps before having dinner.

Ahead of the dinner, Mr Trump said he and Mr Xi already had had a long discussion and had “developed a friendshi”, and then quipped: “I have gotten nothing, absolutely nothing.”

During his presidential campaign and since moving into the White House, Mr Trump has taken an aggressive posture toward China, calling Beijing a “tremendous problem” and claiming lopsided trade deals with China shortchange American businesses and workers. Last week, the President tweeted that he expected his meeting with Mr Xi would be “very difficult”.

Tensions between Mr Trump and the world’s second-largest economy have been raised in recent weeks as flashpoints have emerged on a number of occasions.