Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo start FTA talks

China, South Korea, and Japan have opened the first round of free trade talks in Seoul, to discuss details including the scope of negotiations.

In November last year, the three countries declared the start of free trade talks, with goals of boosting trade, which they hope will help ease territorial and political tensions in Northeast Asia. China and South Korea are currently in talks over their own bilateral free trade agreement.

Free trade talks between Seoul and Tokyo have made little progress since stalling in late 2004, mainly because of Japan's reluctance to lower tariffs on agricultural goods. The three-way trade pact, if realized, would create one of the world's largest markets as the three countries account for 20 percent of global GDP, 17.5 percent of all global trade and 22 percent of the world's population.