On the morning of December 24, 2019, Premier Li Keqiang, President Moon Jae-in of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan met the press after the eighth China-ROK-Japan Trilateral Summit Meeting in Chengdu, Sichuan Province.

Li Keqiang expressed, the eighth China-ROK-Japan Trilateral Summit Meeting was practical, candid and efficient and produced fruitful outcomes. China-Japan-ROK cooperation has travelled an extraordinary journey over the past two decades. We insist on openness to one another, and uphold multilateralism and free trade. Trilateral cooperation has become an important engine for the development of East Asia.

Li Keqiang pointed out, standing at a new historical starting point, we look into our cooperation in the next decade, and make prospective and strategic plans. We agree to enhance political mutual trust, grasp the direction of cooperation, face history squarely and shape a brighter future from a strategic height and long-term perspective, adhere to regarding each other's development as opportunities, and constantly expand common interests. Based in East Asia, we focus on the Asia-Pacific region, enhance communication and coordination in regional and international affairs, and build an East Asian cooperation framework that meets the needs of regional countries.

Li Keqiang said, the three countries agree to remain committed to boosting regional economic integration, promoting the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) at an early date and speeding up the China-Japan-ROK free trade area negotiations.

Li Keqiang pointed out, China is further expanding its opening-up and enjoys great market potential in such areas as the service and financial sectors. Enterprises from the ROK and Japan are welcome to take the lead to conduct cooperation in areas such as health, elderly care and child care, securities and life insurance. The Chinese side proposes to designate 2020 as the year of China-Japan-ROK scientific and technological innovation cooperation. The three countries can enhance "China-Japan-ROK plus X" cooperation to achieve common development with more countries. The three countries should deepen cooperation in financial technology, and improve the level of mobile payment facilitation, in a bid to provide more convenient payment services for tourists from the three countries. The three sides should tighten people-to-people and cultural bonds and actively carry out cooperation in the Olympic Games. The three countries should also enhance cooperation in areas including climate change, environmental protection and marine plastic debris.

Li Keqiang said, we had in-depth exchanges of views on the situation of the Korean Peninsula and reiterated that the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and lasting peace in Northeast Asia are common goals, and dialogue and consultation are the only effective resolution to the Korean Peninsula issue. The three sides will continue to remain committed to resolving the Korean Peninsula issue through political and diplomatic means to realize lasting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region.

The leaders of the ROK and Japan spoke highly of the fruitful results of trilateral cooperation in the past 20 years and fully affirmed the leading role of the Trilateral Cooperation Vision for the Next Decade in the next step of cooperation. They agreed to expand cooperation in environmental protection, climate change, health, aging, scientific and technological innovation, sports, youth and other fields to elevate trilateral cooperation to a higher level. They also positively evaluated the progress made in the RCEP negotiations, expressing hope to promote the signing of the high-quality RCEP on schedule next year. They agreed to safeguard the free trade and multilateralism, enhance communication and coordination on the Korean Peninsula affairs and play a constructive role in realizing the denuclearization and the lasting peace of the Korean Peninsula.