Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday called on members of the Group of 20 (G20) to practice true multilateralism and treat each other as partners as the world faces major challenges. 

Wang made the remarks when attending the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Bali, Indonesia. The G20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 leading economies and the European Union. 

G20 members should be partners committed to mutual respect and consultation on the basis of equality, he said. International affairs should be addressed through joint consultation by all countries, and international rules should be jointly made and obeyed by all countries, he said.  

"In the world, there is only one system – the international system with the United Nations at its core; there is only one order – the international order underpinned by international law," he said.

G20 members should be partners committed to peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, Wang said. He urged countries to attach importance to other countries' security and safeguard the security of all, calling it the only way to achieve one's own security.  

Putting one's own security above that of other countries and strengthening military blocs will only lead to divisions in the international community and make itself less secure, he warned. 

G20 members should also be partners committed openness, inclusiveness and interconnectivity, Wang said. Countries can engage in fair competition but should not compete in a malicious manner or even engage in vicious confrontation, he said. 

Attempts to build a closed and exclusive "small courtyard with high walls" are against the trend of the times and doomed to failure, he said.

He called for joint efforts to strengthen coordination of macroeconomic policy and promote inclusive recovery and growth of the world economy.

'China always stands on the side of peace'

China will continue to promote peace talks on the Ukraine issue, Wang said, stressing that the country "always stands on the side of peace." 

China hopes that dialogue and consultation will lead to peace and that a ceasefire will be realized as soon as possible, he said, calling for efforts to prevent the conflict from being prolonged and magnified. 

China encourages efforts to conduct serious and comprehensive dialogue and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture in Europe, he said. 

China will implement the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative and work with all parties to build a world committed to peace, development, cooperation and win-win, he said.

China calls on strengthening the UN's role in international cooperation on grain security, Wang said. Efforts should be made to facilitate agricultural products from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus to enter the international market, he added. 

Since the beginning of this year, China has provided over 15,000 tonnes of grain as emergency humanitarian assistance to developing countries, he noted.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said defending multilateralism and conducting effective cooperation is the only way to tackle global challenges. 

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed the necessity of upholding multilateralism and called on all sides to promote interconnectivity, openness and inclusiveness. 

Parties attending the meeting discussed issues such as ending the conflict in Ukraine, boosting post-pandemic recovery, stabilizing industrial and supply chains, and guaranteeing grain and energy security. 

Wang met with senior diplomats from Russia, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, the EU, Canada and Australia on the sidelines of the meeting.