A virtual meeting planned between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will be held as soon as next week, a person briefed on the matter said.

Spokespersons for the White House and the Chinese Embassy in Washington declined to confirm whether the meeting would take place next week.

Combative U.S. diplomatic exchanges with China early in the Biden administration unnerved allies, and U.S. officials believe direct engagement with Xi is the best way to prevent the relationship between the world's two biggest economies from spiraling toward conflict.