Premier Wen Jiabao will attend the 4th meeting of leaders of China, Japan and South Korea in Tokyo, Japan from May 21 to 22, 2011. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) held a briefing for Chinese and foreign media on May 18. Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue introduced the background, main activities and significance of Wen's participation in the meeting and answered questions of journalists. Vice Director-General of the Information Department of the MFA Tian Qi chaired the briefing and nearly 100 Chinese and foreign journalists were present.
Hu said that the recent outbreak of the most severe earthquake in the history of Japan caused multiple secondary disasters and heavy casualties and property losses. As the coordinator country of the tripartite cooperation with China and South Korea this year, Japan has overcome numerous difficulties after the disaster, hosted the meeting of foreign ministers and the meeting of trade and economic ministers of the three countries and manages to host the 4th meeting of leaders of China, Japan and South Korea as scheduled. China admires the efforts of Japan of promoting the tripartite cooperation and expects to join hands with Japan and South Korea to ensure the success of the meeting.
He pointed out that China-Japan-South Korea cooperation has developed rapidly since the first separate meeting of leaders of the three countries was held in 2008. With a stronger mechanism and more solid foundation, the cooperation maintains a sound momentum at all levels and in a wide range of areas. In 2010, the total trade volume among the three countries exceeded the pre financial crisis level and their personnel exchanges hit another historical high. According to the 2020 Outlook of China-Japan-South Korea Cooperation, the three countries will stably push forward the more than 40 key cooperation projects in five major areas within the next 10 years. The tripartite cooperation will enjoy a brighter future.
He noted that Wen's participation in the 4th meeting aims at further promoting the tripartite pragmatic cooperation in all fields, boosting the in-depth development of China's relations with Japan and South Korea and making contributions to regional peace, stability and prosperity. During the stay, Wen will hold bilateral meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, attend the welcome dinner hosted by Naoto Kan, jointly meet the press with leaders of Japan and South Korea, participate in the business summit luncheon, watch the joint performance presented by musicians of the three countries and visit a traditional art exhibition. Wen will also visit the disaster-hit areas of Miyagi and Fukushima to express the deep feeling of the Chinese government and people with the Japanese people and China's support for Japan's post-disaster reconstruction.
He stressed that China attaches great importance to the meeting and expects the three sides to take the opportunity of the meeting to make progress in the following aspects. Firstly, strengthen the tripartite cooperation to deal with natural disasters and nuclear security, enhance capacity building to cope with natural disasters, effectively reduce the risks of disasters and minimize losses caused by disasters, help each other and seek common development; secondly, establish the priorities of the next-stage tripartite cooperation in the fields of trade and economy, sustainable development, society and culture, clarify the cooperation direction of such major projects as the joint research of China-Japan-South Korea free trade area and the demonstration base of China-Japan-South Korea cycling economy and constantly add strength to the tripartite cooperation; thirdly, further improve the tripartite cooperation mechanism and set up an efficient, standardized and professional secretariat of China-Japan-South Korea cooperation as soon as possible to provide administrative support, technical guarantee and system basis for the tripartite cooperation; fourthly, keep communications on major regional and international issues, strengthen coordination in international affairs, build up mutual trust and consolidate the political foundation of tripartite cooperation.
Talking about the bilateral meeting of Chinese and Japanese leaders, he indicated that the meeting, as the first one between leaders of the two countries this year and held against the special background of Japan's massive earthquake disaster, is of great significance to the improvement and development of the bilateral ties. China hopes through the meeting to convey its people's goodwill and sincerity to the Japanese people, advance the bilateral exchanges and cooperation on post-disaster reconstruction, make the China-Japan strategic and mutually beneficial relations more meaningful and consolidate the sound momentum of improvement and development of bilateral relations.
With regard to the bilateral meeting of Chinese and South Korean leaders, Hu said that it is an important contact between the leaders of both countries this year. The two sides will exchange in-depth views on the bilateral relations and the regional and international issues of common concern. China hopes to reach extensive consensus on boosting the bilateral exchanges and cooperation and enriching the connotation of the bilateral strategic partnership through the meeting. China also expects to continue to strengthen communications and coordination with South Korea on the issue of Korean Peninsula, promote the improvement of South-North relations through dialogue and help ease the situation on the Peninsula and resume the six-party talks at the earliest date possible.
