China, S. Korea, Japan to restore FM meeting in late March

SEOUL - China, South Korea and Japan on Wednesday held the 10th trilateral senior foreign affairs officials' consultation in Seoul, preparing for restoring the upcoming trilateral meeting among foreign ministers of the three countries in late March.

The consultation brought together Chinese vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, South Korea's deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Lee Kyung-soo and their Japanese counterpart Shinsuke Sugiyama.

The main task of the consultation was to prepare for the 7th trilateral foreign ministers' meeting in late March, according to China's foreign ministry.

During the consultation, the high-level diplomats drew the initial consensus about the arrangement of the upcoming talks of their foreign ministers after in-depth discussion. The three sides agreed to continue the close communication and coordination to ensure the smooth running of the trilateral talks.

Liu said that thanks to the joint efforts of the three sides, the upcoming meeting of the three foreign ministers can be held after two years' suspension, which was precious and should be cherished.

"China pays high attention to the upcoming foreign ministers' meeting. We hope that the three countries can prepare very well for the meeting from the perspective of actively promoting cooperation and facing each problem, ensuring the trilateral cooperation develop into the right track healthily and stably," said Liu.

Liu noted that the trilateral cooperation among China, Japan and South Korean is the their common concerns and important part of the East Asian cooperation. The three countries have made great progress in recent years in programs like FTA talks, investment agreement, "the cultural capital of East Asia" and Asian campus cooperation. They also have deepened cooperation in terms of environment protection, finance and technology.

Liu added that China is willing to strengthen the communications and cooperation with Japan and South Korea in the fields of economy and trade, sustainable development, humanities and non-traditional security, making contribution to promote the regional prosperity and stability.