Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Saturday called for the acceleration of progress toward a free trade area (FTA) between Japan, China and the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Hatoyama made the remarks when meeting the press after the second trilateral leaders' meeting of China, Japan and the ROK in Beijing on Saturday morning.

Japan hoped to sign trilateral investment agreements at an early date, Hatoyama said, adding that tackling the economic crisis should not lead to trade protectionism.

Hatoyama said the three countries contributed about 70 percent of the total GDP of East Asia and more active trilateral cooperation was indispensable to world peace and development.

The leaders of the three countries had reached consensus on cooperative measures based on their own economic situations, so as to promote the early recovery of their economies, he said.

Japan would like to take the lead in dealing with climate change.

"We need to cooperate further and adhere to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities for a successful outcome of the Copenhagen meeting," he said.

A United Nations meeting on climate change is to be held in the Danish capital at the end of this year.

ROK President Lee Myung-bak echoed Hatoyama, saying no country could tackle the economic crisis and ensure security alone.

The ROK, China and Japan, with increasing international status, were shouldering important responsibilities, and they had vigorously cooperated to address the crisis, said Lee.

Lee said the leaders of the three countries had agreed that sustainable and balanced growth of the world economy should be realized and they would maintain active cooperation at the G20 summit.

"The trilateral leaders' meeting is an important opportunity to upgrade cooperation between the three countries," he said. "We could work jointly to tackle the economic crisis and continuously seek regional prosperity."

The trilateral meeting was held in the Great Hall of People. It was chaired by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and attended by Lee and Hatoyama.