SEOUL, March 30, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - China, South Korea and Japan agreed Sunday to strengthen free trade, according to a joint statement from their top officials meeting in Seoul.

The meeting -- the first at that level in five years -- comes after US President Donald Trump has thrown global trade into turmoil with a raft of punitive tariffs on a huge range of imports, including cars, trucks, and auto parts.

South Korea and Japan are major auto exporters, while China has also been hit hard by new US tariffs.

The meeting was attended by South Korea's industry minister Ahn Duk-geun, his Japanese counterpart Yoji Muto, and China's Wang Wentao.

The three countries called for their negotiations for a comprehensive trilateral free-trade agreement to be speeded up, and agreed to create "a predictable trade and investment environment", a statement said.

South Korea Ahn said the three countries must respond "jointly" to shared global challenges.

"Today's economic and trade environment is marked by increasing fragmentation of the global economy," he said.

Trump has promised tariffs tailored to each trading partner from April 2 to remedy practices he deems unfair.

But he also told reporters last week that there would be "flexibility", and markets appeared to react with some relief at the end of last week.