Trilateral East Asian FTA talks begin

The second round of negotiations for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) among China, Japan and South Korea kicked off Tuesday in Shanghai, aiming to forge a three-way free trade area.

The four-day talks will cover cargo and service trade, rules on the origin of goods, customs procedures, trade remedies, intellectual property rights and e-commerce, said Yu Jianhua, a representative for China's international trade negotiation.

The Japan-based Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported Tuesday that the talks will focus on lowering customs duties in an effort to expand trilateral trade and stimulate the economy in the future free trade area.

"The trade among China, Japan and South Korea has become more tightly connected and the three countries are key economic and trade partners for each other," said Yu, adding that the economic scale of the group ranks third worldwide, only after the European Union and North America.

Once the FTA is signed, a huge market with a population of over 1.5 billion people will be created, said Yu.

In 2012, the three countries' combined gross domestic product totaled $15 trillion, accounting for about 20 percent of the world's total and 70 percent of Asia's total.

"Establishing this three-way free trade area reflects all parties' interests," said Yasumasa Nagamine, vice-minister for Japanese foreign affairs, adding that the Japanese government is willing to actively promote the FTA negotiations.

Last year, bilateral trade between China and Japan hit $329.4 billion, while China-South Korea trade reached $256.3 billion.

The inaugural meeting among the three nations was held in the South Korean capital Seoul in March, as the South is seeking to sign separate FTAs with China and Japan.

As well as participating in the talks with China and South Korea, Japan is joining talks over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, aiming to establish a similar FTA around the Pacific Rim.

"It is hard for the three to achieve significant progress," Cai Jian, deputy director of the Center for Korean Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times.

"The free trade area was advocated by leaders of the three countries. China and South Korea have been active in the proposal, but Japan's talks with China and South Korea were shelved following rows over political and historical issues," said Cai, adding that the three-way talks for the area have not gone very well.

Cai said that forming FTAs is a global trend and if the three end up signing the agreement, it will greatly benefit them all, adding that political disputes among the three nations would also be eliminated gradually as East Asia grew increasingly close-knit.