Qingdao, a coastal city of Shandong province, is planning a region as a springboard for trilateral economic cooperation, paving the way for formal negotiations on a free trade agreement among China, Japan and South Korea.

This move follows Premier Wen Jiabao's proposal for a regional economic cooperation demonstration area among the three countries in his address to the Fourth China-Japan-ROK Business Summit Meeting on May 13 in Beijing.

Qingdao has long enjoyed sound economic relations with the two countries.

Statistics show it has utilized US$13.24 billion from South Korea and US$3.4 billion from Japan. Japan and South Korea are Qingdao's second and third largest trade partners, with combined trade volume over the past five years reaching more than US$76.09 billion.