(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) Beijing September 01 (QNA) - Negotiators from South Korea China and Japan met in Beijing on Monday for a fifth round of talks on a trilateral free-trade agreement setting aside diplomatic tensions between Japan and the two Asian neighbors. Since launching the talks in late 2012 the three Asian nations have so far reported little progress towards a deal that if successful would create one of the world's biggest economic blocs according to South Korea's (Yonhap) News Agency. During the fourth round held in March in Seoul the three nations even failed to agree on the broader "modalities" of how to eliminate tariffs and which items should be excluded from a deal according to Seoul officials. Negotiations are expected to focus on how to liberalize three-way trade in 15 areas. The liberalization would include goods services intellectual property rights and electronic commerce during the fifth round which will end Friday a Seoul delegate said. South Korea China and Japan who are major trading partners account for about 20 percent of global gross domestic product. Diplomatic tensions between China and Japan run deep because of competing claims over islands in the East China Sea. (QNA)
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