A political academic in Shanghai has described trilateral talks between China, Japan and South Korea as a step in the right direction, although he said the security stances of Tokyo and Seoul may be problematic.

Professor Josef Gregory Mahoney from East China Normal University said Japan and South Korea had recently been gravitating towards the Aukus defence pact - between the US, Australia and the UK - and it remained to be seen how things would play out after the US presidential election later this year.

"The main issues of whether Japan and South Korea will continue to draw closer to the US, as we've seen, especially since President Yoon took office in Seoul and whether or not we'll see a change in the US presidency this November and how that would affect US strategic positioning where we've seen, of course, Biden playing a very powerful role in advancing the Indo-Pacific concept and moving forward with Aukus," he said.

"And, of course, we've had recent reports that South Korea and Japan will be cooperating with Aukus, which most people interpret as a new sort of Pacific-based Nato that is the foremost part of American containment strategies."

The two-day talks in Seoul, which began on Sunday, were the first direct dialogue between the three countries in more than four years with Premier Li Qiang meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Professor Mahoney also said he did not think a free trade pact would emerge soon, despite the countries agreeing to work towards one.