Vice President Joe Biden heads to China Tuesday in hopes of winning favor with the rising power's next leader, seeking a smoother relationship after Beijing's sharp criticism of US fiscal policy.
Biden will spend five days in China, an unusually long trip that comes at the invitation of Vice President Xi Jinping who is expected to take over as China's leader by 2013 and is little known in US policy circles.
"Simply put, we're investing in the future of the US-China relationship," said Tony Blinken, the vice president's national security adviser.
The number-two US leader will also visit close ally Japan, where he will go to an area hit by the March 11 mega-earthquake and encourage a quick recovery, and Mongolia to praise its embrace of democracy.
