China to double agri trade with Japan, ROK

BEIJING, Nov 11 (Xinhua): A Chinese agricultural official Saturday called for closer agricultural cooperation among China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) in Beijing.

China will work to double its agricultural trade with Japan and ROK to over 30 billion US dollars in the next 10 years, said Chinese minister of agriculture and rural affairs Han Changfu at the Third Trilateral Agriculture Ministers' Meeting.

Han said the three countries are strongly complementary in agricultural technologies, industries and markets, adding they should deepen cooperation in agriculture and rural development, agricultural technologies, and agricultural trade.

The three countries have made in-depth exchanges and cooperation in agricultural policies and animal disease control since the establishment of the trilateral agricultural cooperation mechanism, Han said.

China's agricultural trade with Japan and ROK has grown steadily, hitting 16.78 billion US dollars in 2017, accounting for 8.3 per cent of the country's total trade in agricultural products, Han added.