China's Foreign Ministry expressed regret Thursday at the US withdrawal from the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and stressed that the US made the decision based on its own considerations.

The United States will withdraw from the UPU, an international body of the UN, the White House announced on Wednesday.

The US Department of State will file notice, which "will begin a one-year withdrawal process, as set forth in the UPU Constitution," the White House said, adding the department will seek to "negotiate bilateral and multilateral agreements" that resolve the problems related to reform the terms of the postal treaty.

"If negotiations are successful, the Administration is prepared to rescind the notice of withdrawal and remain in the UPU," said the White House.

The UPU, which consists of 192 members and is located in Switzerland, sets shipping rates for international mail in a way that guarantees lower prices for shipments from developing economies and higher rates for those from advanced economies.

Read more: What is the Universal Postal Union?

The White House said the treaty enables foreign postal services to take advantage of cheap shipments to the US, especially China, creating an unfair cost advantage over US companies that ship goods, and hurting the income of the US Postal Service.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang noted at a daily press briefing on Thursday that it is not the first multinational organization or treaty that the US has decided to leave. He said the US might have its own considerations but it's really unnecessary to drag China in.

The move against the UPU represented another US departure after it pulled out of the Paris climate accord, the UN Global Compact on Migration, the UN culture, and education body UNESCO, the UN Human Rights Council, as well as the Iran nuclear deal.

The UPU has played a positive role in bringing close contacts among countries and promoting trade facilitation, Lu said. China has always advocated and safeguarded multilateralism, supported the work of the UPU, and will continue to work with all parties to make contributions to the development of the international postal industry.

The Trump's administration had sought to renegotiate the postal rates, known as terminal dues, at a summit of the UPU in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last month, but was rebuffed by other countries, senior White House officials on Wednesday told reporters in a conference call.

Now the administration plans to set its own "self-declared" international postal rates as it moves to pull out of the 144-year-old international postal body.

"The President concurs with the Department of State's recommendation to adopt self-declared rates for terminal dues as soon as practicable, and no later than January 1, 2020," the White House said.

It's not clear whether US consumers will face higher prices reflecting new shipping rates if the United States formally withdraws from the UPU.