The just-concluded Ninth Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting between China, Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK) was "very successful" and we have reached important consensus on further deepening cooperation, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday.

China, Japan and ROK should join hands to safeguard the purposes and principles of the UN charter, uphold international law and norms governing international relations, firmly advocate multilateralism, and unswervingly promote regional peace, Wang told a press conference jointly held by his Japanese and ROK counterparts, namely Kono Taro and Kang Kyung-wha.

Faced with downward risks in world economy, we should strengthen communication and coordination on macroeconomic policies, jointly uphold the free trade system and build an open world economy, he said.

Wang called on the three countries to continue to play a constructive role, and strive to maintain the hard-won peace dialogue and look for the effective ways to build a peace mechanism on the Korean Peninsula, to realize lasting stability on the peninsula.

Noting cooperation between China, Japan and ROK has made steady progress and yielded fruitful results over the past 20 years, the cooperation mechanism made important contributions to the well-being of the peoples of the three countries and the stability and development of the region, he said.

Wang concluded that facing up to history and looking to the future serves as the political basis for trilateral cooperation; building friendships and win-win cooperation with our neighbors is an inexhaustible driving force for trilateral cooperation; along with candid communication and enhanced trust important experiences.

As major manufacturing and innovation nations, we should seize the opportunity to strengthen cooperation in big data, artificial intelligence and 5G, tap cooperation potential and expand cooperation areas, given the profound changes brought about by the fourth industrial revolution, he said.

We should strive to complete negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership within this year, speed up negotiations on the building of China-Japan-ROK Free Trade Zone and advance the building of an East Asia community, said Wang.

He said the three sides have reached a consensus on the formulation of China-Japan-ROK Cooperation Outlook for the next decade and will complete the consultation as soon as possible.