The Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop, is flying to Beijing to meet her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
Among the topics of discussion will be China's construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea.
It follows her trip to Japan, where she met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Julie Bishop's trip to Japan began with a meeting with her Japanese counterpart in Tokyo, discussing defence and a range of other international issues.
Ms Bishop described the relationship between Australia and Japan as at 'an all-time high'.
But she expressed disappointment at the resumption of whaling in the southern ocean.
"We do not believe that lethal methods are needed in order to pursue information-gathering management conservation of whales. Japan disagrees."
Ms Bishop then met Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, where they discussed a tender for the construction of a new fleet of Australian submarines.
Three countries -- Japan, France and Germany -- have made bids to construct eight to 12 new submarines for Australia, in a project that could be worth $50 billion over 20 years.
Ms Bishop has since departed for China, where she says she will seek more information and clarification on China's actions in the South China Sea.
China has increased its construction of artificial islands, leading some to believe it's bolstering its territorial claims.
Ms Bishop says she wants an explanation of the exact purpose of China's construction.
"I note that President Xi said in Washington that China did not intend to militarise the islands and therefore I will be seeking further details from China as to what it proposes to do with the reclamation and construction work that it has undertaken. China has said in the past that these would be public goods. Well, I wish to know how other countries can access these public goods."
It comes as US President Barack Obama welcomes leaders from southeast Asian nations to a California retreat centre for an ASEAN summit centred on economic and security issues.
Mr Obama is hosting representatives from ten ASEAN countries in the hope that a show of solidarity will increase pressure on China over the South China Sea.
President Obama opened the meeting by declaring that the US and ASEAN share the goal of building a regional order where all countries share an equal role.
"Here at this summit, we can advance our shared vision of a regional order where international rules and norms, including freedom of navigation, are upheld and where disputes are resolved through peaceful, legal means."
Other issues, including combating climate change and cooperating on counter-terrorism and the fight against Islamic State militants, are also on the agenda during the talks.
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