US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Laos on Saturday, where he will attend a regional meeting and hold talks with his Chinese counterpart, part of a multi-nation Asia visit aimed at reinforcing regional ties in the face of an increasingly assertive Beijing.

The top US diplomat is due to meet China's Wang Yi on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers meeting being held in Vientiane.

Blinken has prioritised promoting a "free and open" Asia-Pacific region -- a thinly veiled criticism of China's regional economic, strategic and territorial ambitions.

During a series of ASEAN meetings, "the Secretary's conversations will continue to build upon the unprecedented deepening and expansion of US-ASEAN ties", the State Department said in a statement shortly before Blinken touched down in Vientiane.