Wang Yi meets UK's counterpart Ed Miliband

Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with newly appointed British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in the Philippines.

As the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting is held in Manila, Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his newly minted British counterpart Ed Miliband at the hotel where he's staying.

Apart from calling on the UK to uphold the One-China principle, Wang also commented on the UK's previous administration's move to nationalise British Steel which is under Chinese company Jingye Steel.

He says China and Britain should work together to transcend differences and jointly uphold multilateralism, urging the UK to offer a fairer and non-discriminatory business environment to Chinese enterprises in their country.

He said he looked forward to maintaining close communication with Miliband, to strengthen political mutual trust and jointly address global challenges.

ED MILIBAND: "I look forward to continuing this substantive dialogue with you."

Wang also met Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.

The pair have remained in close contact over the conflict involving the United States and Iran.

Japanese media reported that Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi revealed he had a brief exchange with Wang Yi the day before

and they discussed bilateral relations.

Motegi says maintaining dialogue with China is "extremely important" without disclosing further details.

While this could mark the two countries' first high-level contact since bilateral relations deteriorated late last year, in Bejiing, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson says Wang did not arrange a meeting with Japanese representatives in Manila.

Separately, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying represented China at the ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers' Meeting, attended by foreign ministers from ASEAN, China, Japan and South Korea.

Hua says China places great importance on fostering good-neighbourly relations with surrounding countries and remains committed to promoting East Asian cooperation.

Hua says countries in the region should draw profound lessons from history, uphold independence, openness and inclusiveness and do more to contribute to regional peace and stability.

She says the world had entered "a new period of turbulence and transformation", with the conflict in the Middle East disrupting global energy and food supply chains, making regional cooperation more urgent than ever.