Chinese premier proposes 'China-Japan-ROK+X' cooperation mode

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China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) should carry out joint projects in such areas as capacity cooperation, poverty reduction, disaster management and energy saving through a new cooperation mode of "China-Japan-ROK+X," said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday.

Li made the proposal at a trilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and ROK's President Moon Jae-in in Tokyo.

He said that there are a large number of countries in Asia, and their development disparities are huge. China, Japan and the ROK, which are at the forefront of development in Asia, should give full play to their respective advantages in equipment, technology, capital and engineering construction to jointly open up the fourth-party even multi-party market to promote the rapid sound development of Asian countries.

First proposed by the ROK in 2004 as a meeting outside the framework of the ASEAN Plus Three, the China-Japan-ROK Summit is meant to function as a coordinator of cooperation between the ASEAN and the three East Asian nations of China, Japan, and the ROK. The last meeting was held in Seoul in 2015.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and ROK's President Moon Jae-in pose for photographers prior to their summit in Tokyo, May 9, 2018. /Reuters Photo

Discussions on regional free trade deals

Chinese Premier Li said at the meeting that China, Japan and ROK should accelerate the negotiations for trilateral Free Trade Agreement and achieve the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) at an early date. Premier Li is making a state visit to Japan, the first by a Chinese premier since 2010.

China, Japan and ROK have all benefited from free trade in their respective development and are all advocates of free trade, Li said.

Li stressed that under current circumstances, the three countries should stand together in an even more steadfast manner to safeguard the rule-based multilateral free trade system and take a firm position against acts of trade protectionism and unilateralism.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attend the trilateral summit at Akasaka Palace state guest house in Tokyo, Japan, May 9, 2018. /Reuters Photo

"For our three nations, building future-oriented cooperative relations is extremely important for the region as a whole," Abe said at the start of the trilateral meeting.

In a signed article in Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun on Tuesday, titled "Let the Cause of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan Set Sail Again," Li urged the three countries to promote regional stability and development, and safeguard free trade and a rule-based multilateral trade system by accelerating the establishment of a trilateral free trade zone and negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

China, Japan and the ROK are the world's second, third and 11th largest economies, respectively. If an FTA is signed, the giant common market in Northeast Asia will be a strong driver for regional economic integration, trade and investment growth, and can eventually breathe new life into the world economy, Jiang Yuechun, director of the Department for World Economy and Development Studies under China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), said.

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Discussions on Korean Peninsula

Chinese Premier Li urged the parties concerned to seize the current opportunity to promote denuclearization and maintain peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Currently, the situation on the Korean Peninsula is at a crucial juncture for improvement, Li said, calling for sticking to the direction of dialogue and reconciliation.

China supports the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and ROK to improve ties, and congratulates them on holding a successful meeting between the two countries' leaders, Li said.

China hopes the upcoming DPRK-US summit will be smooth, he added.

"We are also in favor of dialogues among parties in various forms to address both the symptoms and root causes, promote a political settlement of the peninsula issue and establish a peace mechanism, so as to achieve lasting peace in the region," Li said.

China will continue to play a constructive role to this end, he told the press after the trilateral meeting.

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Praising Chinese moves to engage the DPRK, which resulted in an unofficial visit by Kim to China’s Dalian on Tuesday, Abe said further efforts towards denuclearization were essential.

Read more: Xi holds phone conversation with Trump on trade, DPRK

"We'd like to build on these efforts as well as the actions of the United Nations to pursue complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization," he said. "We three nations need to stay in close touch with international society and demand that DPRK take concrete moves. This is essential."

"We must take the recent momentum towards denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula and towards peace and security in Northeast Asia, and, cooperating even further with international society, make sure this is linked to concrete action by the DPRK," Abe told a news conference after the meeting.

Moon said the three nations would continue cooperation as the North and the South have moved towards a permanent peace settlement.

"Above all we reached the consensus that complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a permanent peace settlement and improvement of inter-Korean relations is very important for peace and prosperity of Northeast Asia," he added.

In comments aimed at his domestic base, Abe told the news conference Japan would normalize ties with the DPRK if the nuclear and missile issues, along with that of the abduction of Japanese citizens, are solved comprehensively.

Li said he supported the idea of dialogue between Japan and the DPRK.

Chinese premier calls for China-Japan ties to 'set sail again'

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