Ministry of Commerce says trade agreement will benefit all parties

BEIJING - China is actively pushing for a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) with Japan and South Korea and hopes the negotiations will start next year, officials said on Thursday.

"China, Japan and South Korea are all important countries in East Asia but with different international divisions of labor. A free trade zone among the three countries, if established as soon as possible, would benefit the economic development of all through developing trade and investment potential in East Asia," said Shen Danyang, the spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, at a regular briefing in Beijing on Thursday.