Health officials from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea signed their first comprehensive agreement on health cooperation on Sunday, outlining the direction and key areas for future collaboration among the three countries.

Vice-Minister of China's National Health Commission Lei Haichao, Kazuhiro Oshima, vice-minister of Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and Park Min-soo, vice-minister of South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare jointly signed the memorandum of cooperation at the 16th Tripartite Health Ministers' Meeting in Beijing.

The memorandum covers further deepening comprehensive health cooperation, promoting the development of their respective health sectors and contributing more to regional and global health security.

Centered around the theme "Working Together for a Healthier and Safer Future", the meeting facilitated exchanges among the three countries on strategies and experiences related to public health emergency preparedness in the context of infectious disease epidemics. It also called for enhancing the resilience of primary healthcare systems, promoting universal health coverage, strengthening elderly care services and improving measures to ensure healthy aging.

In attendance were more than 60 representatives from the health ministries of the three countries and officials from the World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office and the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat, including the WHO Acting Regional Director for the Western Pacific Zsuzsanna Jakab and Secretary-General Lee Hee-sup of the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat.

The mechanism of the tripartite health ministers' meeting was established in 2006 and the three countries take turns hosting the meeting.