President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to a three-month trade war truce in December, suspending US plans to increase tariffs on Chinese goods to give negotiators space to find a solution. Liu and US officials will "hold negotiations on economic and trade issues and work together to push forward and implement the important consensus" reached by Xi and Trump, ministry spokesman Gao Feng told reporters.
But Liu's trip could run into complications after a Wednesday report said US authorities were in the advanced stages of a criminal probe that could result in an indictment of Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
Citing anonymous sources, the Wall Street Journal said the Department of Justice was looking into allegations of theft of trade secrets from Huawei's US business partners, including a T-Mobile robotic device used to test smartphones. US lawmakers also introduced a bill to ban the export of American parts and components to Chinese telecom companies who are in violation of US export control or sanctions laws - with Huawei and fellow Chinese firm ZTE the likely targets. China blasted the US actions.
"The whole world is very clear that the real intention of the United States is to use every possible piece of state machinery to suppress and smear China's high-tech companies," said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
The US lawmakers' actions reeked of "extreme arrogance," she said, adding: "The actions of the US are not the normal actions of a normal country, let alone the world's leading power."
Canada's arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou at the request of the United States on fraud charges related to Iran sanctions violations has already infuriated Beijing. Meng is the daughter of the company's founder.
Two Canadians have been detained in China since Meng's arrest and a third has been sentenced to death on drug trafficking charges - moves observers see as attempts by Beijing to pressure Ottawa over her case.
Huawei, the world's second-largest smartphone maker and biggest producer of telecommunications equipment, has for years been under scrutiny in the US over purported links to the Chinese government. US officials have said last week's talks in Beijing "went just fine" but few details from the meeting have emerged.
Liu will travel at the invitation of US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, Gao said.