Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming on Sunday called for close communication and coordination among China, South Korea and Japan to further strengthen three-way economic and trade cooperation.

The China's top trade official made the remark at the seventh trilateral economic and trade ministers' meeting held here. He said to his South Korean counterpart Kim Jong-hoon and Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Masayuki Naoshima that the three nations should maintain the momentum and further enhance collaboration, noting that since uncertainties still remain unresolved in global economic conditions, the close cooperation among China, South Korea and Japan will not only be conducive to the regional economic development in Asia, but also contribute to the recovery and prosperity of the world economy.

Regarding to the issues related to a three-way free trade area (FAT), Chen said the three nations are conducting a joint research by governments, businesses and academic circles, and investment negotiations are also moving forward.

China hopes that any possible disputes arise in the process of the joint research can be resolved in a more flexible and practical way, so as to complete the research ahead of a trilateral leaders' summit in 2012, Chen said.

He also said the three nations should make more efforts to gain substantive progress in the investment negotiations, to reach a balanced, practical and mutually beneficial three-way investment agreement in an early date.

Echoing Chen's views, Kim and Masayuki Naoshima agreed to further promote trilateral cooperation in economy and trade field.

The meeting also reviewed the course of the trilateral cooperation, and exchanged views on how to further boost their cooperation and work together with other countries in the region and the world.

The three ministers also had in-depth discussions on ways to push forward the process of the Doha negotiations, reinforce cooperations under the framework of the Group of Twenty (G20) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and other issues of common concerns.

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