Concerns about the health of the world's largest economy are expected to top the agenda during a new round of talks between the United States and China.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden left Washington Tuesday for a trip that will take him first to China and then to Mongolia and Japan.

Biden is scheduled to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Vice President Xi Jinping, in Beijing for talks expected to focus on China's concern about the U.S. deficit. They are also likely to discuss Washington's call for China's currency to be revalued.

The meeting between the U.S. vice president and the Chinese vice premier is the first in a series of visits announced earlier this year, during Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington.

Biden is also expected to meet with Mr. Hu and other top Chinese officials, and visit the southwestern city of Chengdu.

China is the world's second largest economy and is the biggest foreign creditor of the United States. Chinese officials have expressed concern about the recent deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, saying it did not go far enough.

The Obama administration has stressed that China has its own economic problems, which include an aging work force and the need to move away from an export-driven economy.

The United States has long pressed China to allow its currency, the yuan, to rise in value against the dollar, arguing that it remains significantly undervalued.

Biden's trip to China will also focus on human rights, Taiwan and Tibet.

In Mongolia, Biden is expected to express support for the country's democratic system and highlight growing economic ties.

His stop in Japan begins in Tokyo for meetings with Japanese leaders, followed by a visit to the earthquake and tsunami-devastated city of Sendai.