Honolulu, Hawaii – Military officials from the US and China met for working group talks on maritime military safety in Hawaii last week, sharing "candid and constructive exchanges."

Both sides confirmed the talks took place over Thursday and Friday last week, focusing primarily on maritime safety concerns, logistics, and "constructive strategic stability."

It was the first military-to-military communication between the US and China since President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last month.

"The two sides had candid and constructive exchanges on the current China-US air and maritime safety and security situation," China's Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.

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The ministry described both sides as "guided by the important consensus on building a constructive China-U.S. relationship of strategic stability and on the basis of equality and respect."

Representatives from Washington and Beijing spent the meeting evaluating "the Rules of Behavior for Safety of Air and Maritime Encounters" and discussed how to improve safety.

"The two sides agreed that effective communication and exchanges between the two militaries can help frontline troops perform tasks in a more professional manner, deepen mutual understanding, and avoid misperception and miscalculation."

Chinese and US forces have increasingly been at loggerheads in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, as Beijing moves to assert its territorial claims and reduce US hegemony.

Both sides have held large-scale military exercises, the US often participating in drills alongside key allies like the Philippines and Japan, and China putting increasing pressure on Taiwan and a number of disputed shoals.

The US Indo-Pacific Command announced that the talks had taken place in a press release, confirming they "focused on reducing the risk of unsafe and unprofessional encounters," but offering no further details.