Dong made the remarks in a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, a major security forum where he met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday.

"We have always been open to exchanges and cooperation, but this requires both sides to meet each other halfway," Dong said.

"We believe that we need more exchanges precisely because there are differences between our two militaries."

Dong and Austin met for over an hour at the luxury hotel hosting the forum, which is attended by defence officials from around the world and in recent years has become a barometer of US-China relations.

After the meeting, Austin said that telephone conversations between US and Chinese military commanders would resume "in the coming months", while Beijing hailed the "stabilising" security relations between the countries.