South Korea, China and Japan will reportedly hold a trade ministers' meeting in Beijing over the weekend ahead of their trilateral summit in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu next week.

According to Japan's Kyodo News, China's Assistant Commerce Minister Li Chenggang told a press conference on Thursday that the ministers' meeting was set to take place in the Chinese capital on Sunday.

South Korea's Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Sung Yun-mo will meet with his Chinese counterpart Zhong Shan and Japan's Economy and Trade Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama.

According to the Chinese Commerce Ministry, the trade ministers will discuss ways to accelerate regional free trade negotiations, including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. 

Attention is being drawn to whether the ministers of South Korea and Japan will hold separate bilateral talks on the sidelines of the trilateral meeting amid a continued trade row over Tokyo's export restrictions against Seoul.