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"Protectionism and bullying" are harming the global economy, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in his closing address to a summit with emerging markets leaders in Brazil on Wednesday.

The remarks came as prospects for a partial US-China trade deal hung in the balance, with US President Donald Trump casting doubt over an agreement that had been expected this month.

In his closing remarks at the BRICS summit in Brasilia, Brazil's capital, Xi said "protectionism and bullying are going against the current" and had harmed international trade and investment, and intensified the downward pressure on the global economy, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua.

Xi said Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa " the bloc known as BRICS " should also push a "new round of technological and industrial revolution" in the face of new global changes.

He did not mention the United States, and a Trump-Xi meeting to potentially sign a "phase one" US-China trade deal still has no set time or location. Trump said on Tuesday that the two sides were "close" to a deal, but that he would not sign an agreement that would hurt American workers.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that the US and China still disagreed over purchases of US agricultural goods, quoting sources familiar with the matter.

Trump and Xi were originally expected to meet " and potentially sign a partial deal, if completed " during an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this month in Chile, only for the summit to be cancelled by the Chilean authorities because of anti-government protests.

Xi attended this week's talks alongside leaders of the BRICS nations, with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also attending the closing ceremony in Brasilia.

Modi was invited by Xi to visit China next year. There have been diplomatic frictions between the two countries, with India last week pulling out of talks for a China-backed free trade deal between a group of Asian and Australasian nations, and the two sides calling off a business forum in New Delhi after India failed to process visas for China's delegation, according to Indian media reports.

Xi told Modi the two sides should "increase political mutual trust, properly manage differences and expand practical cooperation so as to guide a better and more stable development of bilateral ties", according to a statement from China's foreign ministry.

During the meetings in Brazil, Putin raised concerns about declining global growth rates, and said BRICS nations should work together to support growth. Putin also decried the use of unilateral sanctions, "including those that are politically motivated", without mentioning individual nations. The US and the European Union placed sanctions on Russia after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

A brief statement from Xinhua said that Xi and Putin had a meeting on Wednesday, at which Xi called for "maintaining the positive and sound momentum" of China-Russia relations.

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