The top US military officer held a virtual meeting with his Chinese counterpart on Thursday in the first such conversation in over a year amid hopes that it could lead to a broader restoration of ties between the two militaries.

General Liu Zhenli, chief of the Central Military Commission's Joint Staff Department, and chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Charles Q Brown, touched on "a number of global and regional security issues," Brown's office said.

Liu said the key for Beijing and Washington to develop a healthy, stable and sustainable military-to-military relationship is for the US to have a "correct understanding of China", according to a Defence Ministry statement.

Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder described Thursday's call as a "positive development".

US officials say communication between the two militaries is crucial to preventing a miscalculation from spiralling into conflict.

President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden met in California last month for their first summit in a year, at which they agreed to restore the military-to-military communications and ease tensions between the two sides. (Agencies)