Notwithstanding China's strong criticism of US President Barack Obama's recent meeting with the Dalai Lama, Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet his American counterpart on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands next week.

The bilateral meeting, the first between the two presidents this year, is significant for the further development of the China-US ties, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong said today.

Li said the two leaders will exchange views on the China-US relationship and other issues of concern. "The Chinese side will work with the US side to pursue positive outcomes at the NSS as well as the meeting between the two heads of state and instill new momentum in the push to build a new type of major-country relationship between China and the US," he said.