Chinese Vice Premier Liu He waits to shake hands with European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen ahead of the EU-China High-level Economic Dialogue at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China on June 25, 2018. (REUTERS File Photo)
BEIJING, August 30 (Reuters): China and Japan should protect free trade because protectionism is not conducive to global development, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Chinese Vice Premier Liu He on Friday as saying.
Liu was speaking during a meeting with Taro Aso, Japan's finance minister and deputy prime minister.
"Both sides should jointly uphold the rules of free trade and the multilateral trading system as unilateralism and trade protectionism will undermine world development and the people's interests," Xinhua quoted Liu as saying.
