Northeast Asian countries have agreed to push forward regional economic integration, developing the area into a new driver for the global economy amid the ongoing worldwide slowdown.

With 100 foreign ministers and officials in attendance, the 9th China-Northeast Asia Expo kicked off on Sept 6 in Changchun, the capital of Jilin province.

"China is to strengthen the mechanism construction of regional economic integration with all Northeastern Asian countries based on long-term development," said Gao Yan, vice-minister of commerce, during the Northeast Asian cooperation summit forum.

"At present, Northeast Asia lacks a carrier for regional economic cooperation. We should build a consensus and promote all countries in the region to build a comprehensive cooperation mechanism within the platform of CNEA and contribute to the economic integration and development of Northeast Asia," Gao said.

Gao said that China and the five Northeast Asian countries own a large market, accounting for one-fifth of the global economy, with great complementarities on energy, resource, fund and technology with a large potential for regional economic cooperation.

The six northeast Asia nations — China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Mongolia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea — have a total population of 1.7 billion and generate one-fifth of global GDP.

China has been expanding cooperation in the region to promote regional economic development in recent years. Both a Sino-ROK free trade agreement and a Sino-Japan-ROK FTA are being negotiated. Trade between China and the ROK totaled $154.81 billion for the first seven month, an 8.6 percent increase year-on-year. Bilateral trade between China and Japan was $173.99 billion, a decrease of 8.8 percent from a year earlier.

"China has been stepping up the revitalization of old industrial bases in Northeast China in recent years. If other Northeast Asian countries could participate in those projects, including Liaoning's costal economic zone and the Changchun-Jilin-Tumenjiang regional development and opening-up pioneer zone, it would become the new economic cooperation module among Northeast Asian countries," said Gim Jae-hong, the ROK's first undersecretary of industry, trade and energy.

The ROK has seen booming trade with three provinces in Northeast China. In the first half of the year, trade between the ROK and China's Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces grew by 25 percent annually, Gim said.

Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, said, "Northeast Asian economies play a significant role not only in the Asian economy, but also became a growth engine for the entire global economy."

Japan expects a regional economic partnership agreement to serve as a booster to help promote cooperation, he said. He also called on governments and business communities to work to ensure a successful conclusion of the FTA negotiations among Japan, China and the ROK.