Admiral Timothy Keating, asked about a potential accord with China similar to a Cold War agreement between Washington and Moscow, told reporters in Hong Kong there were "nascent initiatives" already underway to "address that very issue."

"We want them (China) to understand there are rules of the road, both literal and figurative," Keating said, according to the South China Morning Post.

"It is very much in their interest to observe and operate by those rules," he added in his comments Wednesday.

He was speaking ahead of Hillary Clinton's first visit to China, beginning Friday, as the new US secretary of state.

Closer cooperation between the two countries on issues such as regional security is expected to play a key part in Clinton's discussions.

Keating reiterated Washington's long-held concerns that China is not sufficiently open about its military build-up, the Post said.

"There are areas where China is developing where their stated intentions don't appear to us to align... with the developments we see," he said.

"Transparency involves insight -- we want not just to see, but to understand, the weapons they are developing," he added, according to the Post.

The newspaper report said Keating mentioned China's submarine capabilities, cyberwarfare and space programmes as areas of concern.

As a sign of increased dialogue, China and the United States announced they would resume an on-again, off-again military dialogue in Beijing shortly after Clinton leaves.

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