"On the morning of September 10, Wu Yanan, Commander of the Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, held a video call with (Samuel) Paparo, Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command," the ministry said in a statement.

This high-level military dialogue between the geopolitical rivals comes on the heels of the first visit to China by a US national security advisor since 2016 in late August.

During that visit, top White House aide Jake Sullivan held discussions with Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior army official Zhang Youxia.

Sullivan's meeting with Zhang saw the officials agree to hold a call between the two sides' theatre commanders in the near future, the White House said.