MAR-A-LAGO, FL (TIP): US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping opened their high-stakes summit at Trump’s Florida beach resort on Thursday, April 6 evening, with the volatile situation in Syria where Syrian government troops used chemical gas which killed at least 100, an urgent threat of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, and tensions over trade on the agenda for the first meeting between the leaders of the world’s two largest economies.

President Trump pointed to the crisis in North Korea as a top priority in the meetings with Xi, telling reporters on Air Force One on his way to Florida on Thursday that he thinks China will “want to be stepping up” in trying to deter North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

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

The White House said the location was selected to give the two days of discussions a more relaxed feel. A number of Trump’s top advisers were in attendance, including his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

While Trump would not say what he wants China to do specifically with regard to North Korea, he suggested there was a link between “terrible” trade agreements the U.S. has made with China and Pyongyang’s provocations. He says the two issues “really do mix.”

The president has said that if China doesn’t exert more pressure on North Korea, the U.S. will act alone.