The leader of a US congressional delegation to China warned Tuesday of the "risk of a misunderstanding" between the two countries' militaries as advances in defence technology move at breakneck speed.

Adam Smith, the most senior Democrat on Washington's Armed Services Committee, told journalists in Beijing that China needs to talk more about its military with other global powers "for basic de-confliction".

"We've seen this with our ships, our planes, their ships, their planes coming entirely too close to one another," he said at a news conference at the US Embassy.

"We need to have a better conversation about de-conflicting those things."

The four-person delegation also includes other members of the same Armed Services Committee -- Democrats Ro Khanna and Chrissy Houlahan -- as well as

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