Tillerson meets China's Xi

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has met with President Xi Jinping of China for 30 minutes in Beijing and told him that US President Donald Trump anticipates a meeting "soon".

Xi and Tillerson agreed that opportunities existed for greater cooperation between the two countries, though differences remain, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said following the meeting on Sunday.

Tillerson ended his first trip to Asia since taking office with an agreement to work with China on North Korea.