U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, widely seen as China's next president, have discussed their agenda for next week's meeting in Washington.

Both have expressed hope the meeting will strengthen the U.S.-China relationship.

The White House says the two leaders are expected to discuss a “broad range of economic and trade issues” as well as regional and global developments.

In a statement, the White House said Biden emphasized the importance of building a U.S.-China relationship that addresses practical issues important to both countries.

Chinese state media on Tuesday quoted Xi as saying his trip is aimed at establishing “a China-U.S. cooperative partnership on the basis of mutual respect and reciprocity.”

Tensions exist between the United States and China on a number of issues. Examples include U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, a trade imbalance that heavily favors China, and the foreign exchange rate.

On Saturday, the United States said it was “disgusted” by Russian and Chinese “no” votes on a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the violence in Syria and calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.