Japanese and Chinese finance ministers agreed on the importance of multilateral free trade in the face of global fears of trade protectionism, a Japanese official said on Monday, Reuters reports.
Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso and China’s Finance Minister Liu Kun discussed the matter on the sidelines of high-level economic dialogue between Japan and China.
“There was no reference to (U.S. President Donald) Trump. They reaffirmed the importance of free trade in general,” the official told reporters after the meeting.
The bilateral economic dialogue was co-chaired by Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi.