China, Japan, and South Korea agree to restart trilateral summit, revive cooperation

Even as China and the United States seek to mend frayed ties, including a summit this month between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, Beijing is concerned that Washington and its key regional allies are strengthening their three-way partnership.

Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo had agreed on annual summits from 2008 to bolster diplomatic and economic exchanges, but two-way rows and the COVID pandemic interrupted the plan, with the three leaders last meeting in 2019.

The three foreign ministers met in the South Korean port of Busan for their first such meeting since 2019, after officials of the three countries agreed in September to arrange a trilateral summit at the "earliest convenient time".