During his five-day visit, Biden will stress the strengths of the US economy, just weeks after Washington came close to default, prompting a storm of criticism in China -- the largest foreign holder of US debt.
The 68-year-old will meet with China's top leaders, including his counterpart Xi Jinping, who is widely expected to replace current President Hu Jintao next year and remains virtually unknown in US policy circles.
Biden will focus on building a working relationship with Xi, but his trip risks being overshadowed by China's concerns about the safety of its US investments, particularly after a US credit downgrade.
The People's Daily, mouthpiece of China's Communist Party, published a comment piece ahead of his arrival Wednesday urging Biden to "put forward concrete measures" to address Beijing's worries.
China is the largest holder of US debt with around $1.2 trillion in US Treasuries by the end of June.
Its state-run media has run a series of scathing commentaries over the US debt crisis, calling the United States irresponsible and demanding that it live within its means.
Ahead of his arrival, Biden used an interview with one of China's most prominent financial magazines to put up a robust defence of his country's economy.
"I've been in public service for a long time -- 38 years, in fact. During that time, many people have said, as some are saying now, that the US is in decline. They were wrong then, and they're wrong now," he told Caijing magazine.
Lael Brainard, undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs, said Monday the number-two US leader would tell China it should focus on its own economic reforms.
Brainard said that Biden would suggest Beijing let its currency appreciate and shift from a reliance on exports to an economy based on consumption.
Biden's trip also comes amid concern in the United States about China's human rights record, with calls for the vice president to visit Liu Xia, the wife of jailed dissident writer Liu Xiaobo.
Activist groups say she has been under house arrest since the end of last year, when Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize -- a claim denied by Beijing.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch has also said Biden should press publicly about the treatment of critics including missing rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng and Chen Guangcheng, who exposed abuses in China's one-child policy.
As part of the trip, Xi will take Biden to the southwestern city of Chengdu, just 300 kilometres (186 miles) from Daofu county where a monk set himself on fire and died in an apparent protest Monday, sparking a crackdown.
In Chengdu, the two vice presidents will dine at an informal restaurant and Biden will deliver a speech, according to Tony Blinken, the vice president's national security adviser.
The state-run Global Times newspaper reported Wednesday that the boomtown has already attracted investment from 189 of the Fortune 500 firms.
At the end of his China visit, Biden heads to Mongolia and close US ally Japan.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011