BEIJING- Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will visit the United States to make preparations for a scheduled trip there by President Hu Jintao, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Yang will make the visit from Jan 3 to 7 at the invitation of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news briefing.

"The foreign minister is due in the US to prepare for President Hu's visit to the country in January, and he will exchange views with the US side on bilateral ties and issues of mutual concern," said Jiang.

She said both sides are keeping in touch on details of Hu's US visit.