A senior Pentagon official held talks with the Chinese military for the first time since President Joe Biden took office in January, a U.S. official told Reuters on Friday, the news agency reported.

Michael Chase, deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, spoke last week with Chinese Major General Huang Xueping, deputy director for the People's Liberation Army Office for International Military Cooperation.

"[They] utilized the U.S.-PRC Defense Telephone Link to conduct a secure video conference," the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Chase and Huang focused on managing risk between the two countries, the U.S. official added.