ISTANBUL

China on Friday said it will “continue to practice true multilateralism,” a day after US President Donald Trump dubbed his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as “G2,” or Group of Two.

Trump met with Xi in South Korea's port city of Busan on Thursday, where the two sides agreed to maintain stable trade ties and roll back some tariffs and export controls.

Ahead of his summit with Xi, Trump said: “THE G2 WILL BE CONVENING SHORTLY!”

When asked to clarify, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said: “China and the United States 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.”

Trump and Xi were in South Korea for a summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

“China will continue to practice true multilateralism, and work with other countries to uphold the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core, abide by the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations,” Guo said Friday.

He said China follows an “independent foreign policy of peace,” stressing: “China will forever stand together with fellow developing countries.”