Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi is to travel to Iran for talks on Tehran's nuclear programme.
As Iran contends with Western powers over Tehran's nuclear activities, China has found itself caught between the two sides' rival expectations.
The West accuses Iran of seeking the ability to make nuclear weapons but Tehran says its atomic programme is for generating electricity.
With a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, China holds the power to pass or veto possible new sanctions on Iran.
Beijing approved two previous UN resolutions pressing Iran, but Chinese officials also say that they do not favour sanctions as a diplomatic tool and want more negotiation.
Iran is China's third biggest supplier of imported crude oil, behind Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last week his country's nuclear programme was irreversible, showing continued defiance in the face of possible new UN sanctions.
Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China are expected to meet on November 19th to assess reports on Iran from EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei.