China defense minister says Beijing needs more military exchanges with US

Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun said on Sunday that Beijing needs more military exchanges with the United States, after the countries' defense chiefs held their first substantive face-to-face talks.

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. 

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