China, Japan, ROK kick off 5th round of FTA talks

BEIJING - China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) started the fifth round of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations in Beijing on Monday.

The talks will last for five days and ministerial-level officials from the three countries will discuss ways to reduce tax for trade of goods and how to open up service trade and investment.

China, Japan and the ROK launched the FTA negotiations in November 2012 during a series of meetings for East Asian leaders in Cambodia's Phnom Penh.

A FTA usually aims to eliminate tariffs, import quotas and preferences on most (if not all) goods and services traded among economies that have signed it.

The three countries are actively promoting the signing of the FTA, but they did not give a timetable.

China, Japan and the ROK are major economies in East Asia with a combined population of over 1.5 billion people.