US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is in China, will urge Beijing to halt its "increasingly assertive actions" in the South China Sea.
US officials said that Kerry plans to confront top officials to protest China's growing territorial claims in the strategic waters, the BBC reported.
China, who has warned it will defend its "legitimate rights and interests," claims almost the whole of the South China Sea, resulting in overlapping claims with Brunei, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia.
Kerry, whose visit comes as the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, is also in the country, is due to hold a series of meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top government officials in the Chinese capital.
State Department officials say his visit has been scheduled for some time, but the agenda will now be dominated by China's activities in the disputed waters.
Washington says China has reclaimed about 810 hectares of land (2,000 acres) of land in the Spratly Islands since 2014.