On October 24, 2023, Assistant Foreign Minister Nong Rong met with a visiting delegation of the Consultative Board of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) led by Secretary-General Lee Hee-sup, and had an exchange of views on cooperation between China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the development of the TCS, among others.

Nong Rong welcomed Secretary-General Lee Hee-sup and his delegation to visit China, spoke highly of the positive contributions made by the TCS in advancing China-Japan-ROK cooperation, and advised the TCS to continue leveraging advantages, strengthen platform and capacity building, carry out more exchange projects, and play a bigger role in promoting trilateral cooperation. China will continue to support the work and development of the TCS. Lee Hee-sup thanked China for its support, and introduced the working plans of the TCS in the next stage, saying that as China-Japan-ROK cooperation is currently facing important development opportunities, he will lead the TCS to continuously expand cooperation in such fields as culture, education, youth and sister cities, and more actively serve and support China-Japan-ROK cooperation.

The TCS is an inter-governmental international organization among the three countries established in the ROK in 2011, with the purpose of providing trilateral cooperation with administrative and technical support. The Consultative Board, the decision-making body of the TCS, consists of the Secretary-General and Deputy Secretaries-General, with a term of two years for each session of office.