China, Japan and South Korea are in closer cooperation but obstacles remain in the way of trilateral free trade agreement

In the just-concluded fourth trilateral meeting of the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea, all three countries agreed to speed up the process toward finalizing a free-trade agreement (FTA).

Promoting a trilateral FTA at this time is significant, mainly because major changes occurred in the world economy after the global economic crisis, and Japan and South Korea strongly hoped to "take a free ride" on the rise of China's economy.