East Asia (China, Japan & South Korea) summit to deal with North Korea and trade
The three largest East Asian economies agreed Sunday to find ways to strengthen regional trading ties and to work together to ease political tensions in the area. The countries — China, South Korea and Japan — said they would begin negotiations to establish a free trade area that could help the region recover from a global slowdown.
Harry Fawcett, reporting from Seoul, said: "As a whole, these three economies make up a fifth of the world economy, so the idea of a full, free-trade area encompassing these three countries would be seen as a very significant development. "It would be one which would rival in size, and probably in power, the North American Free Trade Area, and the European Union."
In addition, Premier Wen Jiabao of China, President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan agreed that their countries would work together to try to calm tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with Mr. Lee saying that any further provocations from North Korea would be unacceptable.
The summit meeting — which followed a meeting among the three nations’ economic and trade ministers — also saw the signing of an investment agreement, paving the way for the setup of a free trade area among the three nations. Negotiations are expected to begin by the end of the year.
Trade among the three countries grew to $690 billion in 2011, and China is the biggest trade partner for both South Korea and Japan, according to a Chinese government report on the three-nation relationship.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/14/world/asia/china-south-korea-and-japan-seek-regional-trading-pact.html?_r=1