3 countries join hands, plan Tokyo gathering

China, Japan and the Republic of Korea are working together on setting up their annual trilateral foreign ministers meeting, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

The occasion would pave the way for an annual trilateral leaders meeting later this year.

In response to speculation that Foreign Minister Wang Yi might also engage in bilateral meetings in Japan, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the upcoming gathering will be "a routine multilateral meeting and will not involve bilateral visits".