[Title] The Action Strategy on Trilateral Cooperation among the People's Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea

The Three-Party Committee, headed by H.E. Mr. Li Zhaoxing, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, H.E. Mr. Nobutaka Machimura, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan and H.E. Mr. Ban Kimoon, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea,

Recalling the Joint Declaration on the Promotion of Tripartite Cooperation among the People's Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (Hereinafter referred to as the "Joint Declaration") issued at the Trilateral Summit on October 7, 2003 at Bali, Indonesia;

Recalling also the decision reached at the inaugural meeting of the Three-Party Committee held on June 21, 2004 in Qindao, China;

Reaffirming the five fundamental views shared among the leaders in the Joint Declaration as the basic principles of the trilateral cooperation;

Noting that the current degree of economic interdependence among China, Japan and Korea has risen to an unprecedented level which has provided a solid foundation for further cooperation among them;

Recognizing the importance of taking advantage of mutual complementation among the three countries in furthering the trilateral cooperation;

Recognizing that the trilateral cooperation could serve as an effective framework to achieve economies of scale in a variety of fields;

Noting the importance of the trilateral cooperation in addressing the cross-border issues of our common concerns;

Encouraged by the great progress achieved in the trilateral cooperation with the joint efforts of the three countries, especially the rapid expansion of areas and frameworks including the holding of the several ministerial level meetings;

Recognising that the good momentum of the trilateral cooperation should be maintained and accelerated in order to appropriately respond to the rapidly changing regional and international environment including the wave of globalization permeating various fields particularly in the economic area;

Emphasizing that there is a growing need for the three countries to further strengthen their study, plan, coordination and supervision on the trilateral cooperation;

Acknowledging that closer and comprehensive partnership among the three countries will contribute to peace, stability and development in the region and the world, as well as to our efforts towards community building in East Asia;

Hereby decide:

1.To formulate an "Action Strategy on Trilateral Cooperation among the People's Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Strategy") which will provide guidelines for the future trilateral cooperation based upon the Joint Declaration (guidelines of each cooperation area are specified in the attached document);

2.To explore the possibility to formulate the "Plan of Action" involving relevant authorities, which will feature more concrete measures so as to further the Action Strategy;

3.To coordinate the overall trilateral cooperation activities, particularly those described in the Action Strategy through the Three-Party Committee, as well as other trilateral ministerial meetings;

4.To submit this Action Strategy to the Trilateral Summit which is scheduled on 29th November, 2004 for endorsement;