Japan, China, South Korea kicks off FTA talks

Japan, China and South Korea on Monday kicked off a fresh round of negotiations for a three-way free trade agreement (FTA) in Beijing.
The fifth round of FTA negotiations, which will last until Friday, are expected to cover various areas, such as trade in goods and services, investment, competition policies, intellectual property, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
"The atmosphere was amicable," the South Korean delegate who attended the closed-door talks told Yonhap News Agency, declining to elaborate on the prospects for the meeting.
The Japan-China-Korea FTA will stimulate the three countries' economic growth while contributing to regional integration.
The negotiations began in 2012, with the last session held in Seoul in March, where the three parties failed to agree on guidelines for removing tariffs.
The trilateral agreement, if realized, will create one of the world's largest markets as the three countries jointly account for 20 percent of the global gross domestic product and 17.5 percent of global trade. (end) mk.tg