For two days of meetings with Chinese officials, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will be in Beijing.
It is the first time in nearly five years that an American diplomat has visited China.
The main objective of the talks, according to US officials, is to stabilize a relationship that has grown very tense.
It comes almost five months after a previous Blinken visit was canceled due to the flight of a rumored Chinese spy balloon through US airspace.
Both the US and the other party have stated that they do not anticipate any significant progress during the visit.
The objective, according to US officials, is to restore high-level communication and stabilize relations that have deteriorated since the balloon incident.
China has conducted military drills close to Taiwan, which Beijing sees as being a natural extension of its own country. The democratically elected government of Taiwan and the US remain close allies.
A full schedule is available, including meetings with Wang Yi and Qin Gang, two senior Chinese foreign policy officials.
The Americans anticipate talking about the Ukraine conflict, trade disputes over cutting-edge computer technologies, the fentanyl epidemic in the US, and Chinese human rights practices.
Chinese officials responded coolly to Mr. Blinken's visit, raising doubts about the US' sincerity in seeking to mend fences.
It is unclear if he will have a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Since President Joe Biden's inauguration in January 2021, Mr. Blinken is the highest-ranking US government official to travel to China.
The place to start with communication, Mr. Blinken told reporters on Friday, "if we want to make sure, as we do, that the competition that we have with China doesn't veer into conflict.".
Later, he stated that he hoped to meet President Xi within the coming months.
Fears of a new Cold War were temporarily allayed by President Biden and President Xi Jinping meeting in November, but since the balloon incident, high-level communication between the two leaders has been scarce.