China, Japan and South Korea in free trade talks

SEOUL - Trade ministers from China, Japan and South Korea yesterday praised efforts to explore a potential joint free trade deal to boost commerce among three of Asia's biggest economies.

South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming and Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima met in Seoul for one day of talks.

The three countries, which represent 18.6 percent of the global economy as measured by gross domestic product, have been holding trilateral meetings at the trade minister level since 2002. Japan is Asia's largest economy with China close behind. South Korea ranks No 4 behind India.

South Korea, China and Japan earlier this month in Seoul held the first meeting of a joint committee consisting of representatives from government, business and academia to study a free trade agreement.

Kim, Chen and Naoshima said in a statement that they hoped the study, targeted for completion by 2012, would "contribute to deepening the already mutually beneficial economic interactions among the three countries towards the realization of economic integration of the region in the long term."

As that language suggests, achieving such an ambitious deal would likely take years. Efforts by South Korea and Japan, for example, to reach a bilateral free trade agreement have gone mostly nowhere largely because of disagreement over how to handle trade in rice.

South Korea has been the most aggressive among the three countries in pursuing bilateral free trade agreements. Seoul has pacts in force with Chile, Singapore, India, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Free Trade Association, which comprises Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

AP News

(China Daily 05/24/2010 page14)