Chengdu meeting puts focus on larger regional picture

In their leaders' meeting in the Chinese city of Chengdu on Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in adopted a series of documents signaling the three countries' shared intent to strengthen economic integration, including an outlook on trilateral cooperation in the next decade and a list of early harvest projects under the model of "China-Japan-ROK plus X".

Li said the three countries have also agreed to jointly push for the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a mega trade pact for the Asia-Pacific region, as scheduled in 2020 and will work together to accelerate the China-Japan-ROK Free Trade Agreement negotiations.

All this will not only pave the way for all-win cooperation among the three countries geared toward the future but also contribute to regional development and help beef up regional and even global confidence in cooperation, free trade and multilateralism.

Being robust locomotives of growth for Asia and the world at large, China, Japan and the ROK, which account for 24 percent of the world economy and boast tightly bound supply chains, have been major trading partners and investors in each other's countries, with the trilateral trade exceeding $720 billion last year.

The three countries' commitment to achieving common development through cooperation and resolving differences through dialogue will lead to fruitful trilateral cooperation and help deepen the economic integration of the region against the threats of protectionism and isolationism.

As active participants in regional cooperation, their pledge to promote inclusive development in the region through the "China-Japan-ROK plus X" model will help expand their collaboration in fourth-or even fifth-party markets, bringing benefits to more economies.

Chengdu also witnessed the first meeting between Abe and Moon in 15 months, sending a clear signal to the outside world that the two countries are now ready to look beyond their skirmishes over trade and focus on the larger picture of regional cooperation.

Given that China, Japan and the ROK are stakeholders in peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, whether the Chengdu meeting would realize a common stance has also drawn much international attention.

The three countries' commitment to dialogue to resolve the nuclear issue on the peninsula will undoubtedly contribute to the desirable momentum of a political settlement of the issue.

Although neighbors, China, Japan and the ROK have different social and political backgrounds, remain entangled in historical and territorial disputes, and their relations are influenced by the relationship between China and the United States.

Yet as long as they continue to deepen mutual trust, properly handle their differences and together face the challenges ahead, there are bright prospects for this trilateral cooperation mechanism as it enters its third decade.