China, Japan and South Korea started their second round of trilateral talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) in Shanghai from July 30 to August 2.

The talks covered the cargo and services trade, customs procedures, trade remedies, intellectual property rights and e-commerce.

The three countries have seen increasingly close economic and trade relations, said Yu Jianhua, a representative for China's international trade negotiation.

In 2012, the three countries' combined GDP totaled $15 trillion, accounting for about 20 percent of the world's total and 70 percent of Asia's total. In 2012, bilateral trade between China and Japan exceeded $329 billion, while China-South Korea trade surpassed $256 billion.

The first round of trilateral talks was held in March in Seoul. The third round will be held in Japan at the end of 2013.