The governments of the three Asian neighbors, with Japan as this year's chair, are maintaining close communication on affairs related to the foreign ministers' meeting as well as a leaders' meeting, and the secretariat is making every effort to ensure the success of the gatherings, Lee told China Daily.After a gap of more than four years, the 9th Trilateral Summit was held in Seoul last year, during which the three leaders agreed to strive to institutionalize trilateral cooperation by holding the trilateral summit and ministerial meetings on a regular basis.Since then, various ministerial-level meetings and government mechanisms have been actively operating, and diverse cooperation projects have regained momentum.There are 21 ministerial-level meetings, over 70 intergovernmental mechanisms and more than 100 cooperative projects under trilateral cooperation.To achieve this qualitative leap forward with new vision and dynamism, it is crucial to build up momentum and potential for cooperation based on mutual trust.The three countries have been operating bilateral mechanisms and carrying out strategic dialogues to address those differences.In addition, by investing more positive energy in soft issues such as youth and cultural exchanges and interregional cooperation, the three countries are enhancing mutual understanding and trust among their peoples while steadily working for tangible outcomes.As the three leaders agreed to maintain discussions on speeding up negotiations for a trilateral free-trade agreement, it is said that the negotiations will not only help identify areas of competition and areas of cooperation, allowing for more efficient collaboration, but also serve as a catalyst for upgrading the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which forms the foundation for the trilateral FTA.China has been the largest trading partner of Japan and South Korea for years, while those two nations have been among the top four trading partners of China.Lyu Yaodong, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Japanese Studies, said that cooperation among the three countries must be future-oriented, and the common interests of the region should be prioritized.This not only contributes to the well-being of the people of the three nations, but also to regional and global peace, stability and prosperity.