US Secretary of State John Kerry will welcome his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi Thursday, when the two are expected to talk about Syria and North Korea over a working lunch.

According to State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, the long-scheduled meeting will touch on swiftly evolving current events.

A Saturday accord signed by Russia and the US to dismantle Syria's chemical weapon arsenal was welcomed by Beijing, which is united with Russia in its resolve to veto any UN Security Council resolution against Syria.

Although allied with Pyongyang, Beijing cooperates with Washington in its attempts to forge a diplomatic solution on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

Other topics likely for discussion include China's assertion of maritime rights in the South and East China Seas, the so-called American "pivot" towards Asia, and computer espionage, a constant source of friction between China and the US.