China, South Korea and Japan started the fourth round of negotiations on the trilateral free trade agreement in Seoul yesterday.

The fresh round of negotiations, to last until Friday, focuses on modalities of tariff reduction, the way of opening service trade, investment and certain range and fields of the agreement, the Chinese delegation said.

South Korea’s Trade Minister Yoon Sang-jick on Monday told reporters that although these talks may not always go smoothly, they are “moving toward an end.”

South Korean farmers previously opposed such FTA, fearing that a free trade pact would flood the market with cheap farm products.

The three Asian countries talked about the trilateral FTA’s modality such as how to make a draft of liberalization for goods at the third round of negotiation held in Tokyo last year.

China, South Korea and Japan have seen increasingly close economic and trade relations and have become important partners to and markets for each other.

The FTA will create one of the world’s largest markets, as combined gross domestic product of the three countries will account for 20 percent of the world total and the combined import and export volume will account for 17.5 percent of global trade.