China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed to submit a pact upgrading their free trade areas to their leaders for approval in October, according to China's foreign minister Wang Yi on Saturday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi had a "positive" meeting in Malaysia on Friday, both sides said, in an apparent bid to ease tensions between the rival powers.

Rubio said the U.S. tariffs imposed on many Asian countries, including the heaviest levies on China, were a top complaint at the summit.