NEW YORK, May 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded higher on Monday as trade tensions between China and the United States showed signs of relaxation.

At midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 152.21 points, or 0.61 percent, to 24,983.38. The S&P 500 increased 10.68 points, or 0.39 percent, to 2,738.40. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 36.11 points, or 0.49 percent, to 7,438.99.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that Washington and Beijing are working to get Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE, which is suffering from a U.S. exports ban, back into business.

The two sides "are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast," said Trump in a tweet.

Trump's words came ahead of a new round of trade talks between the two sides later this week. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will visit the United States from May 15 to 19 for economic and trade consultations, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday.

U.S. stocks surged last week, as Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal sent oil prices sharply higher while tamed inflation data eased concerns about the pace of the U.S. central bank's tightening strategy.

For the week, all three major indices posted solid gains, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rallying 2.3 percent, 2.4 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. Enditem