Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi said in Beijing Tuesday that China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) are highly economically complementary and the three sides should explore more areas for cooperation.  

Wu said in a letter to the Second China-Japan-ROK Business Forum which started here Tuesday morning that to deepen the economic cooperation and relations among the three countries would contribute to the peace and prosperity of the whole of east Asia.

The forum, hosted by major business organizations from the three countries, attracted about 400 entrepreneurs and experts. The topics to be discussed at the one-day forum included the possibility of building a China-Japan-ROK free trade area, and cooperation in areas of textile, garments, mechanics, iron and steel, electronics, automobiles, among others.

China, Japan and ROK issued a joint statement last October from Bali, Indonesia, on promoting cooperation among the three parties, whose trading volume added up to some US$200 billion in 2002.

"China's strong economic growth, plus its strategies to develop its western areas and to rejuvenate Northeast China, will open up new business opportunities for entrepreneurs from Japan, the ROK and other parts of Asia," said Wan Jifei, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), which co-organized the forum.

Hira Katsuhiko, head of the Japanese delegation, said Japan, China and the ROK should take the lead in promoting economic cooperation in East Asia, and lay a foundation for the future free trade area.

ROK delegation head Lee Chong-Hoon said Northeast Asia is the fastest growing area in the world in terms of the growth of gross domestic product, trade volume and logistics. He proposed to expand cooperation from the manufacturing sector to finance, energy and information technology.

(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2003)