China said Thursday that it has maintained an "overall good momentum" of bilateral relations with the United States, a day after the White House announced a four-nation Asian visit by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Obama will visit South Korea, Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines in April, with major security headaches ranging from North Korea to China's maritime disputes with Southeast Asian nations expected to top his agenda.

When asked about Obama's planned visit to Asia, China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters, "We have seen that President Obama will not visit China."

"Currently, China-U.S. relations maintain an overall good momentum of development and the two sides maintain close communications and cooperation at various levels," Hua said.

"We are doing our best to build a new model of major-country relationship between China and the U.S.," Hua said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is set to arrive in Beijing from Seoul on Friday on the second leg of his four-nation trip.

In Beijing, Kerry and his Chinese counterparts are expected to discuss North Korea's nuclear program and regional tensions over the South China Sea. (Yonhap News)