“Xi is facing multiple economic and political problems”
.........
Highly unlikely.
If true, China would have already blinked.
The Chinese are (much) better negotiators, than any American negotiator, until Donald Trump.
For thirty years, they have been rolling all over us.
Enough is enough.
The idea they would have already blinked is diputed by their historical way of dealing with such problems.
The labor force in China is about five times that of ours. The communist party relies on economic expansion to prevent disruptive and destabilizing (if not politically threatening) strikes and revolts from occurring.
Xi has 800 million reasons (the number of Chinese people in the workforce) to want a trade deal. He also wants to continue his military buildup (recently increased by 7.5%) and that will require a growing GDP.
I doubt there will be a comprehensive trade deal but rather something on a smaller scale that allows both leaders to claim progress and establish a foundation for further negotiations.