China on Tuesday urged the United States to work to push bilateral ties back to normal track as two senior U.S. diplomats came to Beijing with hope to ease tensions between the two countries.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Jeffrey Bader began their visit in Beijing from Tuesday to Thursday before going to Japan.

China's foreign ministry has so far given few details about the visit. The U.S. embassy in China has no plan to hold a press conference as usual.

"We will have a press release as soon as we get further information about the detailed arrangements," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said, declining to disclose whom the two U.S. diplomats will meet.

But Qin repeated at the regular news briefing that the responsibility of the setback of the Sino-U.S. relations lay with the U.S. administration.

"We urge the U.S. side to earnestly observe the principles laid down in the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques and their joint statement, respect China's core interests and properly handle sensitive issues, and work with the Chinese side to push relations back on a healthy and normal track," Qin said.

The United States angered China with its decision to sell arms to Taiwan and President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama regardless of China's objections. China has repeated that the U.S. move would severely harm its core interests.

Steinberg's trip was widely seen as a U.S. effort to mend ties with China at a time when they need to cooperate on a range of global issues, including the economic downturn, climate change and trade liberalization.

U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Monday that the two sides would discuss "bilateral, regional and global issues" during the visit, which would be "an opportunity to refocus on the future."

Steinberg and Bader are expected to talk about the Iran nuclear issue as Western powers are weighing sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

But Qin said there is still room for diplomatic efforts and the parties should work to maintain and promote the process of dialogue and negotiations for a proper resolution of the Iran nuclear issue.

Also on Tuesday, a senior Chinese official said Sino-U.S. relations were experiencing a "spring chill" at the beginning of 2010 and suggested more cooperation and "less containment" in bilateral ties.

"The Americans need to understand that the China-U.S. relationship is like a car with two drivers. The Chinese and Americans both have wheels and brakes, so they have to talk with each other to drive the car forward on the right track," said Zhao Qizheng, spokesman for the annual session of China's top political advisory body.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said earlier that "a good China-U.S. relationship benefits both China and the United States as well as their peoples."

Wen said Saturday that China did not want 2010 to be "an unpeaceful year" for trade and economic relations with the United States.