Chinese President Xi Jinping met Thursday with a number of American business leaders and former U.S. officials ahead of his visit to the United States next week.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met Thursday with a number of American business leaders and former U.S. officials ahead of his visit to the United States next week.?

The meetings at Beijing's Great Hall of the People came after a news conference to introduce several U.S.-China business deals in the works.

The director of China's leading governmental economic and financial affairs think tank - Shu Guozeng - said at the news conference that the world's two largest economies will sign several agreements during Xi's trip to US.

President Xi is set to visit Washington from September 22 to 25 on his first state visit to the United States.