China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit

The China–Japan–South Korea trilateral summit is an annual summit meeting attended by the People's Republic of China, Japan and South Korea, three major countries in East Asia and the world's second, fourth and 12th largest economies. The first summit was held during December 2008 in Fukuoka, Japan. The talks are focused on maintaining strong trilateral relations, the regional economy and disaster relief.
The summits were first proposed by South Korea in 2004, as a meeting outside the framework of the ASEAN Plus Three, with the three major economies of East Asia having a separate community forum. In November 2007 during the ASEAN Plus Three meeting, the leaders of China, Japan, and South Korea held their eighth meeting, and decided to strengthen political dialogue and consultations between the three countries, eventually deciding on an ad hoc meeting to be held in 2008.
In September 2011, the three countries launched the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat in Seoul. The secretary-general is appointed on a two-year rotational basis in the order of Korea, Japan, and China. Each country other than the one of the secretary-general nominates a deputy secretary-general respectively.
Such a meeting was first proposed by the Republic of Korea in 2004 (another viewpoint that it should have begun in November 1999, when Zhu Rongji, the Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, Keizo Obuchi, the Prime Minister of Japan, and Kim Dae-jung, the President of the Republic of Korea, held their first trilateral Leaders' Breakfast in the Philippines on the margins of the ASEAN-China Association meeting, thus setting the precedent for the trilateral Leaders to meet within the ASEAN (10+3) framework).
In November 2007, when the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea held their eighth meeting within the framework of ASEAN and China, Japan and South Korea (10+3), they decided to strengthen political dialog and consultation among the three countries and to hold occasional meetings among the leaders of the three countries, and at the meeting of the foreign ministers of the three countries held in June 2008 in Tokyo, but due to the sudden resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the meeting was postponed to December 13, 2008.
The first separate meeting of the leaders of the three countries was held in Fukuoka, Japan. During the meeting, the "Joint Statement between the three partners" was signed and issued, which identified the direction and principles behind cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea. The conference adopted the "International Financial and Economic Issues Joint Statement", "Disaster Management of the Three Countries Joint Statement" and "Action plan to promote cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea".
One of the topics discussed focused on the improvement of future relations between the three countries, from strategic and long-term perspectives. Prior talks between the three countries have been hindered specifically by various territorial and historical disputes. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao stated that "China is willing to make joint efforts with Japan to continue to develop the strategic and mutually beneficial ties in a healthy and stable manner, to benefit the peoples of the two countries and other nations in the region as well." Japanese prime minister Tarō Asō also expressed that he believed the best manner in dealing with the economic crisis of 2008 was economic partnership. There is also speculation of a future regional Free trade area. Such co-operation would greatly benefit the three nations, which account for two thirds of total trade, 40% of total population and three quarters of the GDP of Asia (20% of global GDP), during the ongoing economic crisis.
The second summit was held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Despite the worries of limitations that the summit has faced in 2008, this all changed in 2009, when Japan, China and Korea were forced to coordinate and cooperate more closely to manage the regional effects of the global financial crisis.
In their joint statement on the crisis, the trio identified the need to cooperate on global issues (such as financial risk) and in global institutions, including at the G20. While a reaction to global events, this cooperation began to significantly affect the management of East Asia. Over the course of 2009, the three nations resolved their long running dispute over contributions (and thus voting weight) in the Chiang Mai Initiatives, the first major 'success' of the ASEAN Plus Three process. The three nations also worked together to push through a general capital increase at the Asian Development Bank to help it fight the effects of the global financial crisis, a decision mandated by the G20 but about which the US appeared ambivalent.
The third summit among these three countries was held in Jeju, Korea. The prime minister of Korea, Lee Myung bak hosted the meeting and China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao, Japan's prime minister Yukio Hatoyama attended the meeting. One document called the 2020 Cooperation Prospect was released, which firstly emphasized that the three countries will face up to history and cooperate for the future development. Also, looking forward to the specific goals that should be achieved in the next ten years, this document stressed the importance to concentrate on the cooperation in different fields.
In the progress of institutionalizations and improvements of the partnership, the leaders decided to enhance the communication and strategic mutual trust. The leaders agreed to establish a secretariat in Korea in 2011 to confront the natural disaster, discuss the possibility to build up the 'defense dialogue mechanism', improve the policing cooperation and boost the communication among the government. In terms of sustainable development and common prosperity, the leaders said they would try to complete the survey of the Trilateral Free Trade Area before 2012; improve the trade volume; enhance trade facilitation and they restated that they would attach great importance to the customs cooperation; make efforts to the negotiation about investment agreement and offer necessary infrastructure for the improvement of the free flow of investment capital; enhance the coordination of the financial departments; improve the effectiveness of the multilateral Chiang mai initiate; reject all forms of trade protectionism; improve the cooperation in science and innovation; and strengthen the cooperation and consultation policies in the fields of industry, energy, the energy efficiency and resource.
Because the previous three summit meetings covered a wide range of world issues, they did not produce any concrete outcome. There was no agreement on North Korea's nuclear development or on the March and September 2010 incidents involving North Korea. Moreover, although the leaders of the three countries had agreed to set up a permanent secretariat headquartered in Seoul to facilitate trilateral cooperation, it has still not been implemented. The three leaders had also agreed to strengthen mutual understanding and trust, expand cooperation in trade, investment, finance, and environmental protection.
The fourth meeting was held in the wake of the nuclear accident at Fukushima and the natural disaster in Japan. Prime Minister Kan Naoto proposed to hold the summit in Fukushima to convey the message to the world that Fukushima has already become a safe place. The Japanese government hoped that if the heads of the three countries gather in the crisis-stricken city, radiation fears will be mitigated. However, due to logistic problems, the meeting could not be held in Fukushima and instead was held in Tokyo.
While Japan was accused of not providing its neighbours with accurate information when radioactive materials leaked at Fukushima, the summit led to agreement to establish an emergency notification system, enhance cooperation among experts, and share information in the event of emergencies.
14 May 2012, Leaders from China, Japan, and South Korea concluded the Fifth Trilateral Summit Meeting and signed the Trilateral Agreement for the Promotion, Facilitation and Protection of Investment (hereinafter referred as the Trilateral Agreement) at a summit in Beijing. The Trilateral Agreement represents a stepping stone towards a three-way free trade pact to counter global economic turbulence and to boost economic growth in Asia.
According to a joint declaration, the three nations will further enhance the “future-oriented comprehensive cooperative partnership” to unleash vitality into the economic growth of the three countries, accelerate economic integration in East Asia, and facilitate economic recovery and growth in the world.
In the joint declaration, the three nations list directions and prioritization of future cooperation, which includes enhancing mutual political trust, deepening economic and trade cooperation, promoting sustainable development, expanding social, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and strengthening communication and coordination in regional and international affairs.
Among all these proposals, the signing of the Trilateral Agreement and the decision to endorse the recommendation from the trade ministers to launch the trilateral FTA negotiations within this year are at the top of the priority list in deepening economic and trade cooperation.
The 6th trilateral summit was held on 1 November 2015 in Seoul, resuming the summit since 2012 due to varieties of disputes and issues ranging from World War II apologies to territorial disputes among the three nations. During the summit, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, and South Korean President Park Geun-hye agreed to meet annually in order to work towards deepening trade relations with the proposed trilateral free trade agreement. They also agreed to pursue the six-party talks over North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Since 2016, relations between the People's Republic of China and South Korea have deteriorated over the deployment of the South Korean anti-missile system Terminal High Altitude Area Defense. In the same year, South Korean President Park Geun-hye was impeached and suspended from office over the Choi Soon-sil scandal. As a result, the China-Japan-South Korea Leaders' Meeting, which was originally scheduled to be held in early December 2016 in Japan, had to be postponed. The meeting was originally planned to be postponed to 2017 and still be held in Japan, but relations between China and South Korea have deteriorated sharply due to the continued festering of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense affair. Japan's failure to satisfy the People's Republic of China on the history issue and other issues kept the meeting on the back burner, and the leaders of the three countries did not meet in 2016 or 2017.
The 7th trilateral summit was held on 9 May 2018 in Tokyo, resuming the summit since 2015. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Keqiang and South Korean President Moon Jae-in attended the meeting. During his visit to Japan, Li will also attend the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China and the "Sino-Japanese Governors' Forum".
On the morning of December 24, 2019, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Keqiang, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the 8th China-Japan-South Korea Leaders' Meeting in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, exchanging views on China-Japan-South Korea cooperation, as well as on regional and international issues. In the afternoon of December 24, Li Keqiang, along with Moon and Abe, attended the Dufu Caotang Museum in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, to mark the China-Japan-South Korea Cooperation. On December 25, Li and Abe held talks at Mount Qingcheng before visiting the Dujiangyan Water Conservancy Project. At the meeting, the "Outlook for the Next Ten Years of China-Japan-ROK Cooperation" and other outcome documents were also released.
The leaders of the three countries did not meet from 2020 to 2023. This was due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as strained Korean–Japanese relations due to the judgment of the Supreme Court of Korea against Japanese companies for compensation in the case of former expelled laborers, with the Japanese government strongly opposing it.
On May 26–27, 2024, the 9th China-Japan-ROK Leaders' Meeting was held in Seoul, South Korea. Chinese Premier Li Qiang, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attended the meeting. The three leaders' meeting was the first trilateral talks in more than four years. It comes at a time when South Korea and Japan have been trying to repair ties damaged by historical disputes while deepening their trilateral security partnership with the United States amid heightened Sino-U.S. rivalry. Li Qiang agreed with Yoon Suk Yeol to launch a diplomatic and security dialogue and resume free trade talks, while China and Japan agreed to hold a new round of bilateral high-level economic dialogue at an appropriate time. The three leaders also agreed to designate the year 2025 and 2026 as the China-Japan-South Korea Cultural Exchange Year.
After the meeting, the three leaders joined a business summit aimed at boosting trade between the countries. Some top industry leaders attended the summit.
The Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) is an international organization established with a vision to promote peace and common prosperity among China, Japan, and South Korea.
List of TCS secretaries-general: