Sullivan, China's top diplomat Wang Yi and others meet for the Aug. 27-29 talks as the two countries are at odds over the Middle East and Ukraine, Chinese territorial claims from Taiwan to the South China Sea, and trade, Reuters reported.
Biden, who is in the final months of his presidency, has pushed direct diplomacy to influence Chinese President Xi Jinping and keep those tensions at bay; US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate in November's election, would likely pursue a similar strategy.
However many analysts aligned with Republican former president Donald Trump see that approach too soft.
Sullivan, who landed in Beijing on Tuesday afternoon, wants to expand military-to-military talks down to the theater command level, a step that Washington hopes could prevent conflict in specific areas like the Taiwan Strait.
The US also wants China to take more action at home to prevent the development of chemicals that can be made into fentanyl, the leading cause of US drug overdoses, and reach an understanding about safety standards for artificial intelligence, according to Reuters
Beijing plans to express its disapproval over US tariffs on a range of manufactured goods and export controls targeting Chinese chip makers, and talk about its claims of sovereignty over Taiwan.
Sullivan's trip is the first by a US national security adviser since 2016. He has held regular talks with Wang with an eye to managing competition between the superpowers, and they last met in January in Bangkok.
In Beijing, the two officials could also set the path towards a final meeting between Biden and Xi. Peru hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum summit and Brazil hosts the Group of 20 summit, both in November, where the two could meet.
On trade, Biden has added tariffs on Chinese goods deemed a threat to US manufacturing and national security, and just last week his administration added 105 Russian and Chinese firms to a trade restriction list over their alleged support of the Russian military, a move China condemned.
China has vowed retaliation and Foreign Minister Wang has said they showed that some in the US may be "losing their minds."
SD/
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