Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's just-concluded visit to the Republic of Korea (ROK) and his attendance at the trilateral China-Japan-ROK summit meeting from Saturday to Monday drew a blueprint for pushing forward China-ROK practical cooperation, and enhancing regional cooperation in Northeast Asia, foreign experts said. Atsushi Kouketsu, vice dean of Japan's Yamaguchi University, spoke highly of the announcement by China and the ROK to build up synergies between their own development strategies, saying the move illustrated the confidence of both sides to build up a win-win relationship.
Both countries have worked hard on tapping their cooperative potentials in recent years and their ties have since been strengthened, Kouketsu said. The ROK also hoped to promote its economic growth through enhancing its role as a linkage between the Korean Peninsula and the vast Eurasian continent, he said. Kouketsu also commented on proposals of the Chinese premier on improving mutual trust between Japan, China and the ROK, saying they are crucial to regional peace and stability.
For Japan, it will not regain trust from the two sides if the country could not face up to its wartime history, he suggested. Yoshinori Tanaka, director general of the Japan-China Friendship Association, said people-to-people exchanges are the cornerstone of trust between the three countries that have similar traditional cultures. The countries should enhance people-to-people communication at all levels, especially among young people, so as to facilitate mutual understanding, he said.
As the three countries' economies are highly complementary, economic coordination among them will benefit regional and global economy, and build up a win-win situation between them, he suggested. Japan, which lacks economic drive powers, needs China's huge market, Tanaka added. China and the ROK, which established their diplomatic relationship in 1992, agreed to upgrade their "comprehensive and cooperative partnership" to "strategic cooperative partnership" in May 2008.
Both countries have pledged to expand and deepen such a partnership, with the signing of many long-term agreements, said Chun Kalim, professor of Hoseo University. Bambang Suryono, president of the Nanyang ASEAN Foundation based in Jakarta, told Xinhua that China-ROK ties are at the best. During Li's visit, Li and President Park Geun-hye jointly witnessed the signing of 17 bilateral cooperation agreements covering such areas as trade and economy, science and technology, environmental protection and people-to-people exchanges, in a bid to make the China-ROK FTA agreement come into effect at an early date.
Suryono noted that China, Japan and the ROK, whose combined GDP accounts for 20 percent of the world total, constitute one of the three largest economic blocs. Their cooperation exerts far-reaching influence over the global and regional economy. He said Li's proposals on improving mutual trust between the three countries are visionary, as cooperation between them should be based on enhanced political trust.
The three parties' commitment to strengthening their partnership in sustainable growth and financial market stabilization is also helpful for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries to shore up their confidence in dealing with their domestic financial risks. Tang Zhimin, director of China ASEAN Studies under Bangkok-based Panyapiwat Institute of Management, told Xinhua that Li's pledge to make joint efforts with the ROK to explore third-party markets in global production capacity cooperation represents a new mindset and herald an new era for China-Japan-ROK cooperation in third-party markets.
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