China, S Korea, Japan to hold 3rd FTA talks next week

SEOUL -- China, South Korea and Japan will hold their third round of trilateral talks on a free trade agreement next week, Seoul's Trade Ministry said Wednesday.

The negotiations, launched in November 2012, will be held for four days from next Tuesday in Tokyo, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The first and second rounds were held in Seoul in March and in Shanghai in July respectively.

The ministry said the third round of talks will cover a wide range of topics, including goods, services, investment, competition, intellectual property rights, e-commerce, government procurement and food areas.

The three Asian powers have seen increasingly close economic and trade relations and have become important partners and markets to each other.

In 2012, combined gross domestic product of the three nations reached $14.3 trillion, accounting for some 20 percent of the world total and 70 percent of Asia's total. The combined import and export volume of the three countries were 5.4 trillion dollars, or 35 percent of the world total.