Leaders from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea have held their first trilateral summit in more than three years. Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and ROK President Park Geun-hye discussed shared security and trade concerns during a 90-minute meeting.

The summit took place each year from 2008 to 2012. But it stopped because of Japanese actions involving historical and territorial issues that angered both China and ROK. In a lengthy joint statement, the three leaders say that trilateral cooperation has been completely restored at this summit. They agreed to seal a trilateral free-trade agreement and try to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Premier Li Keqiang said:“China and ROK have already signed a bilateral free trade agreement, and hope it will be implemented soon. We also want to accelerate negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership with China-Japan-ROK. ”

Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister said:“Through the resumption of the trilateral summit, we believe the cooperation mechanism between the three countries is now back on track. Next year, Japan will host the trilateral summit and we hope for very fruitful results.”

Park Geun-Hye, ROK President said:“We will continue to work toward accelerating the resumption of the six party nuclear talk. Also Premier Li and Prime Minister Abe have agreed to support koreas in separate to overcome the division on the Korean Peninsula.”