BEIJING - China on Wednesday called on foreign enterprises to follow basic ground rules, after Mercedes-Benz apologized for putting a poster with quotes from the Dalai Lama on its Instagram account.

"Correcting one's mistakes is a fundamental basis for one to behave and do business," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Wednesday at a daily press briefing.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. And cooperation with foreign enterprises over the past 40 years is not only beneficial to China, but also brings huge profits to foreign companies, said Geng.

China will continue to cooperate with foreign enterprises and hope that they will follow basic ground rules, he added.