WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - United States Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will meet on Thursday (Aug 12) with China's new ambassador to Washington as the world's two largest economies navigate deeply strained relations.

The meeting between Ms Sherman and Mr Qin Gang will take place in the afternoon at the State Department in Washington, the department said on Wednesday in announcing its public schedule for the following day.

Mr Qin, 55, who has earned a reputation for often pointed public defences of his country's positions, struck an optimistic tone as he arrived in Washington late last month to take up his post, saying great potential awaited bilateral relations.

In the last week that month, Ms Sherman held high-level talks in China that ended with both sides signalling that the other must make concessions for ties to improve.

Mr Qin previously served as a vice-foreign minister, and his recent past portfolios included European affairs and protocol.

He also did two stints as a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman between 2006 and 2014.

Mr Qin replaced China's longest-serving ambassador to the US, Mr Cui Tiankai, 68, who last month announced his departure after eight years in Washington.

Relations between Beijing and Washington deteriorated sharply under former president Donald Trump, and since taking office in January, President Joe Biden has maintained pressure on China, stepping up sanctions on Chinese officials and vowing that China would not replace the US as the world's global leader on his watch.

China's Foreign Ministry has signalled that there could be preconditions for the US on which any kind of cooperation would be contingent, a stance that some analysts say leaves dim prospects for improved ties.