QINGDAO, July 3 -- The 2023 International Forum for Trilateral Cooperation, involving China, Japan, and the Republic and Korea (ROK), kicked off on Monday in Qingdao City, east China's Shandong Province, highlighting future cooperation and exchanges among the countries.

Themed "Revitalizing Trilateral Cooperation in the Post-COVID Era: Communication, Connectivity, and Community," this year's event is held offline for the first time since 2020 due to the COVID-19 impact, said its organizer.

Cooperation among the three countries is vital to the peace and stability of Northeast Asia and is of great significance to the prosperity and development of Asia and the world at large, said Ou Boqian, secretary-general of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS), during the opening ceremony.

China, Japan and the ROK account for about a fifth of the world's population and a quarter of the global economy, strengthening trilateral cooperation is both a mission presented to the three countries by the times and the expectation of the people of the three countries, participants at the forum said.

This year's forum is co-hosted by the TCS, the China Public Diplomacy Association and the Qingdao municipal government.