China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit

The China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit is an annual summit held between the People's Republic of China, Japan and South Korea. The first was held during December 2008 in Fukuoka, Japan. The talks are focused on maintaining strong international relations, the global economy and disaster relief.

The summits were first proposed by South Korea in 2004, as a meeting outside of the framework of the ASEAN(+3), with the three major economies of East Asia having a separate community forum. In November 2007 during the ASEAN(+3) meeting, the leaders of China, Japan and Korea held their eighth meeting, and decided to strengthen political dialogue and consultations between the three countries, eventually deciding on an ad hoc meeting to be held in 2008.

In September 2011, the three countries launched a Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat in Seoul. South Korea's Shin Bong-kil, a former ambassador for international economic cooperation, was appointed the first rotating headship as secretary-general, with Mao Ning from China and Rui Matsukawa from Japan as his deputies. They will each serve a two-year term.

Summits

Leader summits

Summit	Host Country	Host Leader	Host City	Date
1st	Japan	Taro Aso	Fukuoka	13 December 2008
2nd	China	Wen Jiabao	Beijing	10 October 2009
3rd	South Korea	Lee Myung-bak	Jeju	29 May 2010
4th	Japan	Naoto Kan	Fukushima & Tokyo	21–22 May 2011
5th	China	Wen Jiabao	Beijing	13–14 May 2012
6th	South Korea	Park Geun-hye (expected)	TBD	2013

Foreign Minister summits

Summit	Host Country	Host Minister	Host City	Date
1st	South Korea	Song Min-soon	Jeju	3 June 2007
2nd	Japan	Masahiko Kōmura	Tokyo	14 June 2008
3rd	China	Yang Jiechi	Shanghai	28 September 2009
4th	South Korea	Yu Myung-hwan	Gyeongju	15 May 2010
5th	Japan	Takeaki Matsumoto	Kyoto	19 March 2011
6th	China	Yang Jiechi	Ningbo	8 April 2012
7th	South Korea	TBD	TBD	2013

Leader summits at EAS

Summit	Host Country	Host City	Date
1st	Philippines	Manila	29 November 1999
2nd	Singapore	Singapore	24 November 2000
3rd	Brunei	Bandar Seri Begawan	5 November 2001
4th	Cambodia	Phnom Penh	4 November 2002
5th	Indonesia	Bali	7 October 2003
6th	Laos	Vientiane	29 November 2004
7th	Philippines	Cebu	14 January 2007
8th	Singapore	Singapore	20 November 2007
9th	Thailand	Pattaya	11 April 2009
10th	Vietnam	Hanoi	29 October 2010
11th	Indonesia	Bali	19 November 2011

2008 summit

The first separate meeting of the leaders of the three countries was held in Fukuoka, Japan. During the meeting, the "Joint Statement between the three partners" was signed and issued, which identified the direction and principles behind cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea. The conference adopted the "International Financial and Economic Issues Joint Statement", "Disaster Management of the Three Countries Joint Statement" and "Action plan to promote cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea".

Trilateral relations

One of the topics discussed focused in the improvement of future relations between the three countries, from strategic and long-term perspectives. Prior talks between the three countries have been hindered specifically by various territorial and historical disputes. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao stated that "China is willing to make joint efforts with Japan to continue to develop the strategic and mutually beneficial ties in a healthy and stable manner, to benefit the peoples of the two countries and other nations in the region as well." Japanese prime minister Taro Aso also expressed that he believed the best manner in dealing with the economic crisis of 2008 was economic partnership. There is also speculation of a future regional free-trade agreement. Such co-operation would greatly benefit the three nations, which account for two thirds of total trade, 40% of total population and three quarters of the GDP of Asia (20% of global GDP ), during the ongoing economic crisis.

2009 summit

The second summit was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Despite the worries of limitations that the summit has faced in 2008, this all changed in 2009, when Japan, China and Korea were forced to coordinate and cooperate more closely to manage the regional effects of the global financial crisis.

In their joint statement on the crisis, the trio identified the need to cooperate on global issues (such as financial risk) and in global institutions, including at the G20. While a reaction to global events, this cooperation began to significantly affect the management of East Asia. Over the course of 2009, the three nations resolved their long running dispute over contributions (and thus voting weight) in the Chiang Mai Initiatives, the first major ‘success’ of the ASEAN Plus Three process. The three nations also worked together to push through a general capital increase at the Asian Development Bank to help it fight the effects of the global financial crisis, a decision mandated by the G20 but about which the US appeared ambivalent.

2011 summit

Because the previous three summit meetings covered a wide range of world issues, they did not produce any concrete outcome. There was no agreement on North Korea’s nuclear development or on the March and September 2010 incidents involving North Korea. Moreover, although the leaders of the three countries had agreed to set up a permanent secretariat headquartered in Seoul to facilitate trilateral cooperation, it has still not been implemented. The three leaders had also agreed to strengthen mutual understanding and trust, expand cooperation in trade, investment, finance, and environmental protection. Not much progress has been achieved in these areas as well over the past one year.

The fourth meeting was held in the wake of the nuclear accident at Fukushima and the natural disaster in Japan. Prime Minister Kan Naoto proposed to hold the summit in Fukushima to convey the message to the world that Fukushima has already become a safe place. The Japanese government hoped that if the heads of the three countries gather in the crisis-stricken city, radiation fears will be mitigated. However, due to logistic problems, the meeting could not be held in Fukushima and instead was held in Tokyo.

While Japan was accused of not providing its neighbours with accurate information when radioactive materials leaked at Fukushima, the summit led to agreement to establish an emergency notification system, enhance cooperation among experts, and share information in the event of emergencies.

2012 summit

May 14, 2012, Leaders from China, Japan, and South Korea concluded the Fifth Trilateral Summit Meeting and signed the Trilateral Agreement for the Promotion, Facilitation and Protection of Investment (hereinafter referred as the Trilateral Agreement) at a summit in Beijing. The Trilateral Agreement represents a stepping stone towards a three-way free trade pact to counter global economic turbulence and to boost economic growth in Asia.

According to a joint declaration, the three nations will further enhance the “future-oriented comprehensive cooperative partnership” to unleash vitality into the economic growth of the three countries, accelerate economic integration in East Asia, and facilitate economic recovery and growth in the world.

In the joint declaration, the three nations list directions and prioritization of future cooperation, which includes enhancing mutual political trust, deepening economic and trade cooperation, promoting sustainable development, expanding social, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and strengthening communication and coordination in regional and international affairs.

Among all these proposals, the signing of the Trilateral Agreement and the decision to endorse the recommendation from the trade ministers to launch the trilateral FTA negotiations within this year are at the top of the priority list in deepening economic and trade cooperation.

Country data

Skyline of Pudong, Shanghai.

Skyline of Shinjuku, Tokyo.

File:Gangnam, Seoul, Korea.jpg

Skyline of Gangnam, Seoul.

Demographics

Country	Area km²	Population	Population density per km²	HDI (2012)	Largest City	2nd Largest City
China	9,596,961	1,349,585,838	140.6	0.699 (medium)	Shanghai	Beijing (capital)
Japan	377,915	127,253,075	336.7	0.912 (very high)	Tokyo (capital)	Yokohama
South Korea	100,210	50,219,669	490.9	0.909 (very high)	Seoul (capital)	Busan

Military

Country	Active Military	Military Budget millions of USD (2012)	Military Budget PPP millions of USD (2012)	Military Ranking GFP (2014)
China	2,285,000	166,000	249,000	3rd
Japan	230,300	59,300	46,000	9th
South Korea	687,000	31,700	44,200	8th

Economy

Country	GDP nominal millions of USD (2012)	GDP PPP millions of USD (2012)	GDP nominal per capita USD (2012)	GDP PPP per capita USD (2012)	Exports millions of USD (2012)	Imports millions of USD (2012)	International Trade millions of USD (2011)
China	8,227,000	12,610,000	6,100	9,300	2,057,000	1,735,000	3,687,100
Japan	5,964,000	4,704,000	46,800	36,900	773,900	830,600	1,684,700
South Korea	1,156,000	1,640,000	23,600	32,800	552,600	514,200	1,067,500

Credit ratings

Country	Fitch (2012)	Moody's (2012)	S&P (2012)
China	A+	Aa3	AA-
Japan	A+	Aa3	AA-
South Korea	AA-	Aa3	A+

Organization and groups

Country	G20	G8	P5	G4	UfC	OECD	DAC	BRICS	MIKT	MNNA	APEC	EAS	APT	SCO
China	Y	N	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y
Japan	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N
South Korea	Y	N	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N

See also

• Economy of China / Japan / South Korea
• Relations between China and Japan / China and South Korea / Japan and South Korea
• Disputes between Japan and Korea
• Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands dispute
• Financial crisis of 2007–2008
• 2008 in the People's Republic of China

External links

• Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (official website)