[5] The summits were first proposed by South Korea in 2004, as a meeting outside the framework of the ASEAN Plus Three, with the three major economies of East Asia having a separate community forum.

During the meeting, the "Joint Statement between the three partners" was signed and issued, which identified the direction and principles behind cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea.

[9] Chinese premier Wen Jiabao stated that "China is willing to make joint efforts with Japan to continue to develop the strategic and mutually beneficial ties in a healthy and stable manner, to benefit the peoples of the two countries and other nations in the region as well.

Despite the worries of limitations that the summit has faced in 2008, this all changed in 2009, when Japan, China and Korea were forced to coordinate and cooperate more closely to manage the regional effects of the global financial crisis.

Over the course of 2009, the three nations resolved their long running dispute over contributions (and thus voting weight) in the Chiang Mai Initiatives, the first major 'success' of the ASEAN Plus Three process.

The three nations also worked together to push through a general capital increase at the Asian Development Bank to help it fight the effects of the global financial crisis, a decision mandated by the G20 but about which the US appeared ambivalent.

The leaders agreed to establish a secretariat in Korea in 2011 to confront the natural disaster, discuss the possibility to build up the 'defense dialogue mechanism', improve the policing cooperation and boost the communication among the government.

The meeting was originally planned to be postponed to 2017 and still be held in Japan, but relations between China and South Korea have deteriorated sharply due to the continued festering of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense affair.

[20] Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Keqiang and South Korean President Moon Jae-in attended the meeting.

[21] On the morning of December 24, 2019, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Li Keqiang, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the 8th China-Japan-South Korea Leaders' Meeting in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, exchanging views on China-Japan-South Korea cooperation, as well as on regional and international issues.

In the afternoon of December 24, Li Keqiang, along with Moon and Abe, attended the Dufu Caotang Museum in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, to mark the China-Japan-South Korea Cooperation.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attended the meeting.

It comes at a time when South Korea and Japan have been trying to repair ties damaged by historical disputes while deepening their trilateral security partnership with the United States amid heightened Sino-U.S.

[28] The Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (TCS) is an international organization established with a vision to promote peace and common prosperity among China, Japan, and South Korea.