Mr Tillerson will travel to Beijing on Thursday, September 28, for a three-day visit expected to be dominated by the nuclear threats issued against the US by China’s allies.
The talks will also include discussions about trade, amid high tensions between the two countries following President Donald Trump’s repeated criticism of Chinese trade practices.
Mr Tillerson’s trip will also lay the groundwork for President Trump’s visit to China in November, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told a news briefing.
Earlier this week Mr Tillerson said President Trump would have “all military options on the table” when it comes to dealing with North Korea.
“We will continue our efforts in the diplomatic arena, but all of our military options is on the table,” he said.
The US has repeatedly urged China – North Korea’s only ally – to do more to solve the crisis, by using its influnce to pursuade Pyongyang to scale down its nuclear ambitions.
Although China has criticised Kim Jong Un’s persistant rocket launches and September’s nuclear bomb test, Beijing is wary of regime change should it unleash a wave of North Korean immigrants across its border.
ON Monday China urged all sides to show restraint and not “add oil to the flames” after a weekend of additional threats by both Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.
China’s United Nations ambassador Liu Jieyi said the escalating rhetoric between the two nations was getting “too dangerous” and stressed the only solution to the crisis was negotiations.
He said: “We want things to calm down. It’s getting too dangerous and it’s in nobody’s interest.
“We certainly hope that the United States and North Korea will see that there is no other way than negotiations to solve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula … The alternative is a disaster.”