Chinese and U.S. defense officials had their first known formal contact since Donald Trump returned to the White House, in a meeting that partially coincided with Beijing conducting large-scale military drills around Taiwan.

Military officials from the U.S. and China held a maritime safety consultation in Shanghai on Wednesday and Thursday, according to a statement from the navy of the People’s Liberation Army on Thursday. Both sides discussed measures to improve maritime military safety, the statement added.

The Pentagon said in a separate readout that the working-level talks, attended by representatives from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Coast Guard and others focused "on decreasing incidences of unsafe and unprofessional PLA actions.”