Seoul, Feb 25 (IANS): China, South Korea and Japan will hold their fourth round of talks on a trilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in Seoul next month, the trade ministry said here Tuesday.

Delegations from the three countries will gather in Seoul to exchange views on the pact March 4-7, the ministry added.

During the negotiations, the three countries would hold working-level meetings on goods, services, investment, competition and intellectual property rights, while exchanging views among experts over environment, government procurement, e-commerce and food areas, Xinhua reported citing the ministry.

The three Asian nations have seen increasingly close ties in economy and trade, and have become important partners and markets for each other.

In 2012, the combined gross domestic product (GDP) of the three nations reached $14.3 trillion, making up about 20 percent of the world total and 70 percent of Asia's total. The combined import and export volume of the three was $5.4 trillion, or 35 percent of the world total.