BEIJING -- China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) will hold the first round of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks from March 26 to 28 in ROK's capital Seoul, the Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.

Representatives from the three countries will talk about the mechanism, fields and approaches of the FTA negotiations, ministry spokesman Shen Danyang told a press conference here.

"As the three countries are major economies in east Asia with close economic and trade ties, building a FTA as soon as possible is in line with their common interests and beneficial for regional peace and development," Shen said.

Stable relations among the three countries will serve as the political foundation for smooth development of future negotiations, according to Shen.

Shen said China is willing to make joint efforts with the other parties in order to achieve positive results in the talks as early as possible.

He also said the three sides have agreed to hold three rounds of talks within the year, with the other two in China and Japan.