The second round of official talks for the China-Japan-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (CJKFTA) were held in Shanghai last week.

The idea of the CJKFTA was proposed early in 1999 by the then leaders of the three countries. After almost 14 years, the first round of trilateral negotiations kicked off in Seoul this March.

The joint study carried out by the three countries has indicated enormous economic effects from a trilateral FTA. If realized, the CJKFTA will benefit all three countries and create a situation that benefits all sides.

The CJKFTA will be a driving force for economic growth. The latest study predicts that the trilateral FTA will add 0.74 percentage points to Japan's GDP, 2.27 points to China's GDP and 4.58 points to South Korea's GDP.

It will also further boost trade and investment among the three countries. The trilateral FTA means a single market among China, Japan and South Korea. Trade barriers and tariffs will be greatly reduced.

Moreover, the CJKFTA will help grow the regional economy. Altogether the three East Asian countries account for about 20 percent of world GDP. Given the scale of the countries involved, a trilateral FTA would be a great step forward for regional economic integration in Asia.

China, Japan and South Korea have all signed FTAs with ASEAN. However, these FTAs still remain within the ASEAN Plus One frameworks. Trade cooperation among the big three still needs to be ramped up.

If the CJKFTA is achieved, the prospects for an even broader ASEAN Plus Three FTA will also be promising. The success of the trilateral FTA will pave the way for the establishment of the Asian Economic Community.

Yet the negotiation process won't be smooth. It took more than a decade for the three countries to decide to start the official negotiations. No one knows how many years it will take to reach a trilateral agreement.

The negotiations are still at a preliminary stage. The negotiation scope and key issues still need to be identified specifically. It is not practical to expect substantial results from the recent talks.

Geopolitical competition and political tensions are also obstacles to deep and cordial negotiations.

Japan's frayed ties with China and South Korea have already had a negative impact on economic and trade relations. If Japan sticks to its guns on historical issues and territorial disputes, the negotiation progress will drag on.

This partly explains why China and South Korea are drawing closer.

Simultaneously, the two are actively engaged in bilateral FTA negotiations that started in May 2012. The sixth round bilateral talks have just been completed in July.

Given unstable relations with Japan, there is a possibility that the China-South Korea bilateral FTA will be accomplished first, followed by a trilateral FTA at a later stage.

That said, the recent talks still mark great progress for the CJKFTA. The biggest achievement is that constructive discussions have been initiated. Even under a difficult political environment, the three countries have committed to setting up an institutional framework for further negotiations.

The CJKFTA will enhance trilateral economic cooperation and promote regional economic integration in Asia. But there is still a long way to go.

The author is an assistant professor at Maebashi Kyoai Gakuen College in Japan. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn