China's top diplomat will pay a rare visit to Washington this week as American and Chinese officials held a "productive" first meeting on Monday of a new economic working group by the two countries.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the highest-ranking Chinese official visiting the US capital in nearly five years, will be in Washington from Thursday through Saturday, a senior US official said.

"We continue to believe that direct face-to-face diplomacy is the best way to raise challenging issues, address misperception and miscommunication, and explore working with the Chinese where our interests intersect," the official said on customary condition of anonymity.

Wang will be returning a visit in June to Beijing by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was the highest-ranking US official to travel to China since 2018.

Blinken huddled for 11 hours with the top Chinese leadership including Xi.

Biden, who last saw Xi last November on the sidelines of Group of 20 talks in Bali, has invited China's leader to travel next month to San Francisco where the United States will host an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Meanwhile, the delegations of the China-US economic working group met virtually for two hours and had a productive and substantive discussion on topics including domestic and global macroeconomic developments," the Treasury Department said in a statement.

"US officials also frankly raised areas of concern," it added.

The economic working group was set up after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited Beijing in July, where she met high-level officials including Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

A separate financial working group will hold its first meeting on Wednesday.

"The two sides had in-depth, candid and constructive communication on issues such as the global macroeconomic situation and policies, bilateral economic relations, and cooperation in responding to global challenges," state broadcaster CCTV reported.

"China expressed its own concerns. Both parties will continue to maintain