(Photo: www.ce.cn)

A Chinese agricultural official called on Saturday 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 the ROK to over $30 billion 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. 
Han noted that given that anti-globalization, protectionism and unilateralism is rising in the world markets, the cooperation among the three countries in agricultural industry is of significance and China will step up efforts to advance the facilitation for 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 the ROK has grown steadily, hitting $16.78 billion in 2017, Han added.
At the meeting, the three countries vowed to share experience in rural industrial integration, safety control of agricultural products and innovation of agricultural technologies to guarantee food security in the region, and to push forward the development of resource-saving and environment-friendly agricultural products.
Agricultural ministers from the three sides also issued a joint communique and a memorandum on trilateral agricultural cooperation.