Top trade negotiators will visit Washington next week to sign the phase one deal with their US counterparts, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

At the invitation of the US side, Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He will visit the US between Jan 13 and 15, and sign the first-phase economic and trade agreement with the US, Gao Feng, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce, said.

Both negotiating teams are in close contact on the specific arrangements for signing the agreement, Gao said.

Liu is a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chief of the Chinese side of the China-US comprehensive economic dialogue.