A survey finds 70 percent of business executives in South Korea, China and Japan feel the need for a free trade agreement linking the three countries.

According to the survey, 50 percent of respondents said they expect China to appreciate the yuan within this year, and that they are currently working out business strategies to deal with the imminent rise of the Chinese currency.

The survey was jointly conducted by Japan's Nihon Keizai Shimbun, China's International Business Daily and South Korea's Maeil Business Newspaper on 300 businesspeople in the three countries.