US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday in Malaysia, in the first in-person talks by the countries' top diplomats since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.

Neither of the diplomats nor their delegations spoke to journalists as they posed for photos at the top of the meeting, but Rubio called talks "positive" after they finished.

What did Rubio say after meeting Wang?

"I thought it was [a] very constructive and positive meeting," Rubio said. 

Rubio and Wang are in Kuala Lumpur for a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN.

The meeting between the two marks one of the highest-level engagements between the US and China since President Donald Trump returned to office in January

Tensions remain high between Washington and Beijing, as the two nations clash over a range of issues, including Taiwan, trade and emerging technologies.

On Friday, Rubio said there was a "high probability" that Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping would meet face-to-face to discuss such issues; though he gave no time frame, only saying there was "strong desire" for such a meeting to take place.

What was on the agenda?

On Thursday, Wang said the two countries were facing challenges "such as the impact of unilateral protectionism and the abuse of tariffs by a certain major country," and called for a "fairer and more reasonable" international order.

US President Donald Trump has threatened several Asian nations with high tariffs unless they reach a deal with him by August 1.

After taking office in January, Trump imposed tariffs as high as 145% on Chinese goods. Both sides escalated the trade war by imposing steep tariffs on each other, but in May agreed to de-escalate in what Trump called a "total reset."

The two superpowers were also expected to discuss the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own. The United States supports Taiwan's right to self-rule and remains its largest arms supplier.

Prior to the meeting, Rubio said he would likely raise with Wang US concerns over China's support for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

"The Chinese clearly have been supportive of the Russian effort, and I think that generally, they've been willing to help them as much as they can without getting caught," he said.

Edited by: Louis Oelofse, Alex Berry