Rubio and Wang had positive meeting at Southeast Asia summit

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that he had a positive meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of a summit of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The meeting between Wang and Rubio comes against a backdrop of multiple disputes between the world's two leading economies in fields such as trade, technological rivalry, fentanyl trafficking and the situation in Taiwan.

"It was a very constructive and positive meeting," Rubio told reporters in remarks picked up by AFP after the hour-long meeting, but stressed it was not a negotiation.

"I think we came away with the feeling that there are some areas that we're going to be able to work together on," he added.

"Both sides agreed that the meeting was positive, pragmatic and constructive," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that both powers agreed to "strengthen communication and dialogue."

Rubio also expressed his confidence in a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.