China has rejected a request by the United States for a meeting between their defence chiefs on the sidelines of an annual security forum in Singapore this coming weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

"Overnight, the PRC informed the US that they have declined our early May invitation for secretary (Lloyd) Austin to meet with PRC National Defence Minister Li Shangfu in Singapore this week," the Pentagon said in a statement to the Journal, adding that the department believes in open communication "to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict".

Last week, White House spokesperson John Kirby said there were discussions by the Defence Department to get a conversation going between Lloyd and his Chinese counterpart.

Kirby also said there was the possibility of a meeting between US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and her Chinese counterpart during the Asia-Pacific-Economic Cooperation (Apec) meeting in Detroit.

- Reuters