President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are to meet face-to-face for the first time since the United States leader took office.
"The leaders will discuss efforts to maintain and deepen lines of communication," as well as how to "responsibly manage competition and work together where our interests align, especially on transnational challenges," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
The men met before Mr Biden became president and a number of times over the past 22 months.
But the and the Chinese Communist Party General Secretary's aversion to foreign travel has prevented them from meeting in person.
China and the US have a massive investment and trade relationship.
They are also challenging each other's military and diplomatic influence, especially .
Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) on a state visit to Washington in 2015, standing beside then-US vice president Joe Biden (second from left), and their wives Jill Biden (right), and Peng Liyuan (second from right). Source: AAP / Carolyn Kaster/AP
Mr Biden said he has already made clear to Mr Xi that he is "looking for competition, not conflict."
The president said they will discuss Taiwan, but added that the US stance on the island has not changed.
Also on the agenda are stepped-up missile test launches by North Korea, which the US and allies consider a growing threat to East Asia.
The US government wants China to pressure North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to reel back his country's activities and engage in talks on denuclearization.
"This is an area where China and the United States have had a history of working together," a senior US administration official told reporters.
Mr Biden said Wednesday he would like to lay out "what each of our red lines are, (to) understand what (Mr Xi) believes to be in the critical national interests of China, what I know to be the critical interests of the United States, and to determine whether or not they conflict with one another."
"And if they do, how to resolve it and how to work it out," he added.
