Trilateral cooperation key to regional peace and stability

South Korean President Park Geun-hye welcomes Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at a welcoming ceremony in Chong Wa Dae, Seoul, on Saturday afternoon. [Photo provided to China Daily]

South Korea, China and Japan agreed on Sunday to further institutionalize their trilateral cooperation to enhance mutual trust and regional stability by holding their summit on a regular basis and bolstering the role of their cooperation secretariat. They also agreed to speed up their negotiations on a trilateral free trade deal, e-commerce, energy imports and an array of global issues including climate change and sustainable development.

These agreements were reached as South Korean President Park Geun-Hye, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang held a trilateral summit in Seoul for the first time since the fifth summit in May 2012. I think in East Asia, South Korea, China and Japan share the big responsibility of creating peace and prosperity and furthermore, the international community's stability.

Lee Myung-gu

Accounting for 70 percent of East Asia's population in total, with the combined GDP of 70 percent of Asia, China, Japan and South Korea are playing increasingly important roles in Asia and the world as well. So the cooperation among the three countries will definitely contribute to peace, stability and development in the region and the world.

Noting the importance of trilateral cooperation in addressing the issues of common concern, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that multilateral cooperation is the "international trend" expressing hopes that the three-way partnership would fare well in the "right direction". His best wishes have been echoed by the South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

As a Korean student in China, I have witnessed China-Korea ties blossoming in recent years both economically and politically. The visit from Chinese Premier Li also helps cement the bilateral ties. Earlier, Park and Li held a bilateral summit during which the two sides signed 13 memorandums of understanding and another agreement, all of which were related to economic cooperation. At the talks, the two sides agreed to make efforts for the bilateral free trade agreement to take effect within this year by speeding up domestic legal procedures.

Also notable was that the leaders agreed to explore the possibilities of a joint fund to support bilateral efforts to connect the two nation's ambitious projects to link the countries with the world through massive infrastructure projects. Korea's project is called the "Eurasia Initiative", while the Chinese one is called "One Belt One Road".

The author is a graduate student at the Management College of Harbin Normal University.