Chinese Premier Li Qiang said the three countries should see each other as “partners and opportunities for development”.
As Japan and South Korea hold their first trilateral summit in nearly five years, China’s number two official urged the two countries to reject protectionism and support globalization.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang made the remarks on Monday during the first trilateral talks since December 2019 with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yun Yeol-sun in Seoul.
According to China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency, Premier Li said the three countries should view each other as “partners and development opportunities”.
“Premier Li opposed turning economic and trade issues into political games and security issues, and called for rejecting protectionism, decoupling and the disruption of supply chains,” Xinhua reported.
Li said Sunday that foreign companies are an “indispensable force” for China’s development and that China will always have an open door to such businesses, according to Xinhua.
In a meeting with Samsung Electronics CEO Lee Jae-yong, Ri reportedly said China will expand market access and improve the business environment so foreign companies can “feel comfortable investing and developing in China.”
The three leaders are expected to push for greater economic cooperation at the summit, but that has been overshadowed by North Korea’s announcement that it will put a satellite into orbit between May 27 and June 4.
Experts say there is a significant overlap between satellite-launching technology and ballistic missile-launching technology, which North Korea is barred from developing under multiple U.N. resolutions.
Yoon said the international community should respond “firmly” to any launch by North Korea.
“As our three countries serve together as members of the UN Security Council this year, I hope that in the face of complex global crises and geopolitical confrontations, we will pool our wisdom and strength and work together for peace and prosperity in the international community,” Yun said before the start of his talks with his Chinese and Japanese counterparts.
Kishida also called on North Korea to halt the launch.
South Korean officials had earlier said the two leaders would sign a joint statement on cooperation on economy, trade, science and technology, people-to-people exchanges, health and ageing issues.
Japan’s Nikkei Asia newspaper reported that the two countries are expected to agree to resume free trade agreement negotiations, which have been suspended since 2019.
According to the Nikkei newspaper, the draft joint statement from the three leaders commits the two sides to discussing a “mutually beneficial” and “high-quality and comprehensive” free trade agreement.
At a meeting held on the sidelines of the summit, more than 200 business leaders from the three countries agreed to strengthen trade and supply chain cooperation.
Relations between China, Japan and South Korea are strained by a number of disputes, many of which relate to issues stemming from Imperial Japan’s wartime aggression.
