US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi had a "positive" meeting in Malaysia on Friday, both sides said, in an apparent bid to ease tensions between the rival powers.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi for the first time during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations conference as relations between the United States and China remain tense.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there were “areas of potential cooperation” between Washington and Beijing, and stressed the importance of managing differences, following his first in-person meeting with his Chinese counterpart as he wrapped up a two-day regional security forum in Malaysia.