Chinese Gen. Fan Changlong Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission, arrives at the Pentagon June 11, 2015, and stands with US Secretary of Defense Secretary Ashton Carter(R) viewing a military Honor Cordon before the two attended private meetings in Washington, DC. [Photo/Photo provided to China Daily]

Policy unchanged

On Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry said China will complete its land reclamation project on some islands and reefs in the Nansha Islands in coming days as planned.

Mira Rapp Hooper, a South China Sea expert at the Washington think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, said China's announcement of an end to the construction may have been timed with the aim of reducing the diplomatic temperature ahead of the meeting that starts on Tuesday, but it did not indicate any change in Chinese policy, Reuters reported.

Tao, the researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said both countries are clear on each other's stance and their huge shared interests, including the ongoing negotiations over a bilateral investment treaty. There is a consensus that they need to avoid conflict, since the South China Sea issue is unlikely to be solved in the near future, Tao added.

China and the US are each other's second-largest trading partners, with two-way trade reaching $555 billion last year.

"The upcoming China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue will achieve positive results that are in both sides' interests, and the relationship needs to keep moving forward," Tao said.