The trip is of added significance as Mr. Xi Jinping is expected to become China’s next leader.

The man likely to become China's next leader in 2013, Vice-President Xi Jinping, on Monday February 13, began a visit to the United States, the BBC reported. In comments to a US newspaper ahead of his trip, Mr. Xi sounded a note of warning to the US over its military stance in the Pacific. He said scaling up military activity was not what countries in the region wanted to see.

Mr. Xi said going by what has happened in the past 40 years, a sound and stable China-US relationship is crucial for both countries. The visiting Chinese Vice President was due to meet President Barack Obama at the White House yesterday February 14.

The BBC quoted the US Ambassador to China, Gary Locke, as saying the visit will afford the two countries the opportunity to discuss their differences as well as focus on common interests. The significance of the visit is in the fact that Mr. Xi, 58, is widely expected to succeed President Hu Jintao, who must retire as head of the Communist Party later this year and from the presidency in 2013, the BBC said.

The Chinese Vice President is making the five-day trip as a guest of US Vice-President Joe Biden, who made a high-profile visit to China late last year. Mr. Xi also will meet Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta. He is due to travel today Wednesday February 15 to Iowa to meet his hosts from his first visit to the US in 1985 when he was a county official. He is also scheduled to visit a farm in Iowa tomorrow February 16 before flying to Los Angeles, California, to meet business leaders.

Mr. Xi Jinping in addition to being the current Vice President, is also the vice chair of the Central Military Commission. He is the son of Xi Zhongxun, one of the Communist Party's founding fathers. He joined the Communist Party in 1974.