China, Japan pledge joint efforts to safeguard multilateralism, free trade

OSAKA, Japan, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed here on Thursday that the two countries should work together to safeguard multilateralism and the free trade system, and build an open world economy.

Xi and Abe held a bilateral meeting ahead of a summit of the Group of 20 major economies slated for Friday and Saturday.