BEIJING — The ninth meeting of foreign ministers of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) was held on Aug 21 in Beijing, where they expressed willingness to promote cooperation.

The meeting was chaired by State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and attended by ROK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono.

Wang said the 20-year history of China-Japan-ROK cooperation tells people that only by continuously enhancing mutual trust can cooperation develop in a stable and long-term manner, only by deepening the integration of interests can cooperation have a strong driving force, and only by properly handling differences can the overall situation of cooperation be ensured.

Wang said the three countries should well maintain bilateral relations, respect each other's core interests and major concerns, and properly handle problems.

He called on the three sides to strengthen cooperation in the fields of science and technology, big data, artificial intelligence and 5G, expressing hope that the ROK and Japan provide a fair, non-discriminatory and predictable business environment for enterprises from all over the world.

Wang said the three sides should safeguard free trade, build an open world economy, play a due role in concluding the negotiations of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) within this year, and promote new progress in the China-Japan-ROK free trade area negotiations.

He also called for further achievement in China-Japan-ROK plus X cooperation and joint efforts for the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road.

ROK and Japanese foreign ministers agreed to actively promote cooperation among the three countries, accelerate the negotiations of the RCEP and China-Japan-ROK free trade area, and jointly safeguard multilateralism and free trade.

The three sides also exchanged views over the preparation work for the next meeting among the three countries' leaders, and reached consensus.