BOAO, Hainan, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Dependence on trade among China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) will have positive outcome for all three nations.

   Experts and scholars at the "New Role of Asia with Focus on Northeast Asia" seminar, which was held here Sunday as part of the 2005 conference of Boao Forum for Asia, all shared the same sentiment.

   As the core of northeast Asia, China, Japan and ROK had a combined GDP of more than seven trillion US dollars in 2004,
accounting for one-fifth of the world's total.

   Last year, trade among the three nations exceeded two trillion US dollars, of which 58 percent came from intra-regional trade, higher than the 55 percent for NAFTA (North America Free Trade Area) but a bit lower than the 65.5 percent for the European Union.

   Kawaguchi Yoriko, special assistant to the Prime Minister of Japan, said at Sunday's seminar that a trade chain based on " interdependence" has taken shape in northeast Asia.

   According to statistics from Japan, the country's trade with China stood at 213.28 billion US dollars in 2004, or more than 20 percent of Japan's total external trade. China has surpassed the United States to become Japan's largest trade partner, and Japan has become the third biggest trade partner of China, next only to the European Union and the United States.

   Kawaguchi Yoriko, also former foreign minister of Japan, said Japan played an active role in boosting trade among northeast Asian nations. She acknowledged as the biggest economy in Asia, Japan has benefited from the rapid economic growth in other Asian countries. Other countries have also benefited from Asia's prosperity, which can be seen as a win-win result, she said. It is of significance for the trend to continue, she added.

   Trade between China and ROK is robust also. Last year, the two registered 90 billion US dollars in bilateral trade, a year-on- year growth of more than 40 percent.

   Kawaguchi Yoriko said the management expertise of Japan and ROK and the huge market and growth potentials of China would conspire towards growth in Asia and towards growth in global economy.

   At the seminar Sunday, Zheng Bijian, chairman of China Reform Forum, an important think tank of the country, expressed his agreement to the idea of regional cooperation among China, Japan and ROK.

   He said during the past few years, the "ten plus three" cooperation mechanism proceeded rapidly. The ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member countries and China, Japan and ROK expanded their cooperation in trade, education and other fields and constantly explored the value of cooperation and development with regional characteristics of eastern Asia. 

   Zheng believed that the experience drawn from "10+3" mechanism could be used for reference for cooperation among northeast Asian countries.

   Wang Shaopu, deputy head of the Research Institute of Asia and Pacific under the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said that thanks to the practice of the European Union and NAFTA, regional cooperation has become a development trend worldwide.

   Nonetheless, Wang said, in comparison with the integration in Europe, it is more difficult for Asia to achieve regional integration, as there are in the region diversified cultures, tradition and ideology and a wide gap in terms of economic
development and political regime. Therefore, Wang said, it is not feasible for Asia to copy integration patterns in Europe and North America.

   According to Wang, one of the major obstacles for cooperation among northeast Asian countries is that Japan has not yet win trust from its neighbors.

   Chung Moon-soo, advisor to the President for Economic Policy of ROK, said only on the basis of understanding and trust could common prosperity be achieved among northeast Asian economies.

   "If the leaders of Germany and France had not overcome their past through conscious and sincere efforts, it would have been impossible to make the European economic integration as successful as it is today," he said. "Unfortunately, Asia is still chained to its legacy of history."

   During their Saturday meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, Chinese President Hu Jintao said to Japan's Prime Minister Junichio Koizumi that China cherished the friendly relationship between China and Japan.

   Experts say to overcome obstacles, solve problems left over from history and enhance mutual benefits, China and Japan could use the newly improved relationship between China and India as reference.

   They believe the spirit of the 1955 Asian-African Conference in Bandung, Indonesia, will continue to provide valuable experience for the peaceful coexistence of and win-win among powerful nations. Enditem