On January 18, the Chief Negotiator Conference of the 9th Round of Negotiations of China-Japan-Korea Free Trade Area was held in Tokyo. Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Yan led the Chinese delegation to attend the conference. During the two-day negotiation, the three parties will exchange views on issues including trade in goods, trade in service, investment and the range of the agreement.

The China-Japan-Korea Free Trade Area negotiation was officially launched in November 2012. At present, 9 rounds of negotiations have been conducted. The three parties all agreed that, the establishment of China-Japan-Korea Free Trade Area would contribute to giving full play to the industrial complementarity of the three countries, exploit the potentials to promote the level of trade and investment of the three countries, and bolster the further integration of regional global value chain. It conformed to the overall benefits of the three countries, and was in favor of the prosperity and development of the region. In November 2015, the leaders of the three countries issued the joint announcement and reiterated that the three countries would make efforts to accelerate the negotiations, and to reach a comprehensive, high-level and reciprocal Free Trade Agreement.