China on Friday reacted favourably to US President Donald Trump's characterisation of his summit with President Xi Jinping in South Korea as a "G-2" meeting, saying that the two countries can jointly work for their benefit and that of the world.
While Trump described his meeting with the Chinese leader on Thursday as "G-2", Xi said China and the US can "jointly shoulder our responsibility as major countries, and work together to accomplish more great and concrete things for the good of our two countries and the whole world".
When asked at a media briefing here that Trump's comments and Xi's remarks point to the emergence of "G-2" grouping between the strategic rivals, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said, "As President Xi Jinping said at the meeting, China and the US should engage in positive interactions on regional and international platforms", considering that the world today is confronted with many tough problems.
But at the same time, China will follow an independent foreign policy and continue to work with other countries to uphold multilateralism, he added.
After his talks with Xi, Trump told the media that he will cut the "fentanyl tariff" from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, which will bring the overall tariff on China from 57 per cent to 47 per cent, which will be lower than the tariffs he announced against India and Brazil.
Under the deal, China has agreed to lift export controls on the much-needed rare-earth metals and imports of US Soybeans, while Washington agreed to lift restrictions on the export of semiconductor chips.
Asked about US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's remarks that a trade deal with China could be signed as early as next week, Guo said China stands ready to work with the US to act on the important common understandings between the two presidents.
Meanwhile, while Trump left the APEC meet on Thursday, Xi had a busy day on Friday, meeting other key leaders attending the APEC summit.
He met Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Friday on the sidelines of the 32nd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.
The meeting between Takaichi and Xi assumed significance, considering that she was regarded as a hardliner.
Their first encounter since Takaichi became prime minister last week took place amid signs that Beijing was taking a cautious approach toward the leader, known as a pro-Taiwan politician, Japanese news agency Kyodo reported.
Xi expressed willingness to maintain communication with Takaichi and jointly advance bilateral relations "on the right track," while the Japanese leader called for "candid talks" to ease concerns between the Asian neighbours in their opening remarks.
The Chinese leader noted that the new Cabinet led by Takaichi attaches importance to Sino-Japanese relations, describing the two countries as neighbours vital to each other.
Earlier in his address to the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, Xi put forward a five-point proposal for promoting a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation and building an Asia-Pacific community.
Xi called for joint efforts to safeguard the multilateral trading system.
He urged APEC members to practice true multilateralism, enhance the authority and effectiveness of the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, and update international economic and trade rules to reflect the changing times, to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries.
Source Name : Economic Times