China’s Ministry of Commerce says it hopes South Korea, China and Japan will launch negotiations on a trilateral free trade agreement by May this year.

Spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Shen Danyang, said on the ministry’s Web site that China hopes the three countries will cooperate and declare the start of three-way free trade talks in a meeting of their representatives slated for May.

The ministry spokesman said a trade deal among the three neighbors will be a remarkable step toward the economic integration of Northeast Asia and will also serve the national interest of the three countries.
He added that an industrial, academic and government study on the trilateral trade pact has been completed and produced positive results.

Shen said South Korea and China have agreed to begin free trade negotiations as soon as South Korea completes domestic procedures.