WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomes a top Chinese diplomat to Boston on Friday.

A week ago, Kerry hosted the British foreign secretary in his home town. Now it's the turn of Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi to sample a bit of the city's history.

Kerry and Yang will have two days of private meetings on US-China relations and global issues - likely to include Ebola, the Iran nuclear negotiations and North Korea.

Earlier this month, Kerry met in Washington with another senior Chinese official, the foreign minister Wang Yi. They aired differences over the Occupy campaign in Hong Kong.

Kerry will then travel to Indonesia for the inauguration Monday of new president, Joko Widodo, who won a July election.

On Tuesday, Kerry goes to Berlin to meet Germany's foreign minister.