China, Japan and the Republic of Korea inaugurated the Three-Party Committee in Qingdao Monday evening by holding the committee's first meeting to study cooperation among the three countries.

The meeting was attended by the delegations respectively headed by Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and ROK Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Ki-Moon Ban.

A joint press statement issued after the meeting said the Three-Party Committee was established based on the historical Joint Declaration issued at the trilateral summit of China, Japan, and ROK in Bali, Indonesia, in October 2003.

During the meeting, the ministers decided the modality of the Committee and that the Committee would be convened at least once a year in one of the three countries. The venue of each meeting would be decided on a rotation basis.

Expressing satisfaction with their closer economic relations, the three sides said they would continue the study on the trilateral free trade treaty currently conducted by the countries' think tanks.

The ministers also emphasized the importance of energy cooperation. They also decided to conduct joint work to formulate the "Action Strategy on Trilateral Cooperation (ASTC)," which will be submitted to the next Trilateral Summit, to be held in Lao in November. The ASTC will outline measures on promoting trilateral cooperation in the 14 areas identified by the Joint Declaration, the statement said.

In addition to tripartite cooperation, the ministers exchanged views on interface with other regional partners, in view of the current progress in regional cooperation in East Asia.

They stressed the importance of advancing cooperation with ASEAN, and recognized the need to enhance coordination among the three countries in relation to the ASEAN+3 cooperation. They reaffirmed respect for the leading role of the ASEAN side in the ASEAN+3 process, the statement said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2004)