China's Commerce Minister Zhong Shan(middle), South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo (left) and Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshi Kajiyama (right) met in Beijing on Sunday for the 12th Economic and Trade Minister's Meeting among China, Japan and South Korea. Photo: Huang Ge/GT

China, Japan and South Korea on Sunday struck a unified stance against rising unilateralism and protectionism in global trade, vowing to jointly preserve the global multilateral trade system and push for regional cooperation through free trade agreements (FTAs).

The united stance, coming after a meeting of the trade officials from the three countries in Beijing, could boost cooperation among the three main economies in Northeast Asia and help push forward several key FTAs, critical for the global economy, which has been plagued by rising protectionism, particularly from the US, experts noted.

China's Commerce Minister Zhong Shan, South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo and Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshi Kajiyama met on Sunday for the 12th Economic and Trade Ministers' Meeting among China, Japan and South Korea.

"[We will] jointly oppose all forms of trade protectionism," the ministers said in a statement released on Sunday, adding that they will work to build an open, inclusive world economy and a rules-based multilateral global trade system.

The ministers also called for trade and investment cooperation among their countries and speeding up negotiations for the China-Japan-South Korea FTA on top of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Experts said that the three countries are highly complementary in economic development and the establishment of a tripartite FTA will further release the potential of economic and trade cooperation in the region.

"Cooperation among the three countries is not only good news for Northeast Asia given their combined size, but also a boon for the global economy amid tremendous difficulty," Chen Fengying, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Trade volume among China, Japan and South Korea exceeded $720 billion in 2018 and the economic aggregate of the three countries accounted for 24.5 percent of the world total, according to Zhong.

Chen said that the joint statements' mention of the trilateral FTA and the RCEP is encouraging as talks for those agreements have hit some bumps. 

Trade tensions between South Korea and Japan have also posed challenges for the China-Japan-South Korea FTA and Japan has been sending mixed signals for the RCEP after India withdrew from what could become the world's largest trade pact.

"As long as we are talking, it's good news," Chen said.

The FTA negotiations among the three countries will also be on the agenda at the Eighth China-Japan-South Korea leaders' meeting in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Tuesday.

Assistant Minister of Commerce Li Chenggang said on Thursday at a meeting that China attaches great importance to the China-Japan-South Korea FTA negotiations and looks forward to injecting more political impetus and promoting a substantial breakthrough in the negotiations.

It will still take some time for the three countries to reach the FTA due to Japan's stance on regional cooperation as the country has adopted a wait-and-see attitude, Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"If there is enough sincerity, any hardship can be overcome [to reach the FTA]," Bai noted.
Newspaper headline: China, Japan, SK unite for free trade