Agriculture ministers of China, S. Korea, Japan hold 4th trilateral meeting

INCHEON, South Korea, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Agriculture ministers of China, South Korea and Japan held their fourth trilateral meeting in South Korea's western port city of Incheon on Monday.

The meeting, focusing on issues including food security, animal diseases, and sustainable agriculture, was held seven years after the last edition in China in 2018, according to a joint statement.

During the meeting, the three ministers recognized multiple challenges faced by the agricultural sector, including the climate crisis, cross-border spread of infectious diseases, and supply chain instability, and reaffirmed the importance of sharing information and working together to address them.

They agreed to deepen complementary cooperation, focusing on areas such as smart agriculture technologies, green and low-carbon agriculture, and young agricultural talent cultivation.

Chinese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Han Jun said that China is willing to work with Japan and South Korea to comprehensively restart agricultural cooperation and build a new framework for trilateral agricultural cooperation that is more resilient, broader in scope, closer in connection, and richer in content, so as to jointly make positive contributions to promoting the revitalization, prosperity, and development of agriculture and rural areas in the region.

The ministers agreed to cooperate on the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) and strengthen cooperation at international and regional levels.

Following the meeting, the three parties issued a joint statement agreeing to hold the agricultural ministers' meeting on a regular basis. The next meeting will be held in Japan.■