China, Japan, S.Korea vow to reinforce cooperation

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi,Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida andSouth Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung Se (from L to R) attend a joint press conference in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 24, 2016. The 8th trilateral foreign ministers' meeting was held here on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)

TOKYO, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida and South Korean counterpart Yun Byung-se agreed on Wednesday that the three countries shall reinforce cooperation to promote regional stability and development.

The Eighth China-Japan-South Korea foreign ministers' meeting was held in Tokyo on Wednesday.

The foreign ministers'' meeting followed the leaders' meeting of China, Japan and South Korea in November 2015.

The leaders' meeting that resumed last year after a three-year interval marked an important new opportunity for the trilateral cooperation, said Wang.

China, Japan and South Korea, as three large economies of East Asia, are accountable for promoting East Asian economic development, taking a lead in East Asian regional cooperation and safeguarding regional peace and stability, he said.

The three countries shall, in the spirit of facing history squarely and advancing towards the future, overcome obstacles and interruptions, build up consensus and focus on cooperation, to make sure the trilateral cooperation follow the right direction and develop steadily, Wang said.

In the next stage, the three countries shall build up political mutual trust, carry out practical cooperation, promote people-to-people exchanges and push forward sustainable development, so as to strengthen the trilateral cooperation and provide new momentum for East Asian cooperation, Wang added.

During the meeting, the Chinese foreign minister also introduced China's preparations for the upcoming Group of 20 (G20) summit in Hangzhou, China.

China is willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with Japan and South Korea, both important members of G20, to make the summit a conference that boosts confidence, helps building consensus and guides future directions, and makes due contribution to promoting world economic development and improving global economic governance, said Wang.

Regarding the current situation in East Asia, Wang said that compared to other regions in the world, East Asia generally enjoys peace and relatively fast economic growth.

East Asian countries shall make common efforts to promote regional integration, stability and common prosperity through giving play to the leading role of trilateral cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea, and moving towards the goal of building the East Asian economic community and the Asian community of common destiny, he said.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, for their part, agreed that trilateral cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea is of great significance to regional peace, stability and prosperity.

The two foreign ministers also said that the three countries shall further strengthen cooperation to improve bilateral relations.

The Japanese and South Korean foreign ministers expressed their support for China to make the G20 Hangzhou summit a success.