Premier Li Qiang will attend a trilateral summit with the leaders of Japan and South Korea on May 26-27 in Seoul, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

It'll be the first such meeting in more than four years.

According to the South Korean presidential office, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will have bilateral talks with Li and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday ahead of their three-way gathering a day later.

The three countries are expected to adopt a joint statement on six areas, including on the economy and trade, following the summit.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China stands ready to work with Japan and South Korea to implement the trilateral cooperation vision for the next decade.

“This summit will be a turning point for Korea, Japan and China to completely restore and normalise three-way cooperation systems,” Kim Tae-hyo, South Korea's deputy national security director, told a news conference in Seoul.

The summit was last held in December 2019 in China before it was suspended because of the pandemic. (Agencies)