LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - Top U.S. and Chinese officials will sit down in London on Monday for talks aimed at defusing the high-stakes trade dispute between the two superpowers that has widened in recent weeks beyond tit-for-tat tariffs to export controls over goods and components critical to global supply chains.

Chinese exports of rare earths, a group of 17 minerals at the center of a trade dispute with Washington, rose 23% in May from the previous month, according to customs data on Monday.

China is willing to accelerate the examination and approval of rare earth exports to European Union firms and will also deliver a verdict on its trade investigation of EU brandy imports by July 5, its commerce ministry said on Saturday.