Beijing to host US-China dialogue in early July

BEIJING: China and the United States will hold annual strategic talks in July, US officials said Tuesday as Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew visited Beijing, with economic reform and regional territorial disputes likely to top the agenda.

The sixth US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue will take place in the Chinese capital, with Lew and US Secretary of State John Kerry expected to attend.

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councillor Yang Jiechi are also likely to be present.

The dialogue will focus on "the challenges and opportunities that both countries face on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global areas of immediate and long-term economic and strategic interest", the Treasury Department said in a statement.

There are a number of contentious economic issues between Washington and Beijing, including intellectual property rights and China's valuation of its currency, the yuan.

On the strategic side, China's territorial disputes with its neighbours in the East and South China Seas have driven up regional tensions in recent months, while the US is making a foreign policy "pivot" towards Asia.

The annual high-level meetings began in 2006, when they were referred to as the "US-China Strategic Economic Dialogue". The name has since been changed to reflect their broadened scope.