Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Monday that State Councilor Yang Jiechi met with Lieutenant General Michael T. Flynn and other advisers of US president-elect Donald Trump in New York recently, en-route to Latin America for a visit.

Flynn has been designated by Trump as his national security adviser.

"The two sides exchanged views over the China-US relationship and important issues of common concern," Geng told a daily news conference in Beijing.

It is the first public contact between a top Chinese diplomat and Trump's team after his election last month.

Earlier this month, Trump prompted sharp disagreement from China after taking a telephone call from Taiwan's leader Tsai Ing-wen. It was the first time that a US president or president-elect spoke publicly to a Taiwan leader since 1979.