SHANGHAI - China, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan started their second round of trilateral talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) on Tuesday.

The talks, which will end on Friday, will cover the cargo and service trade, rules of origins, customs procedures, trade remedies, intellectual property rights and e-commerce, said Yu Jianhua, a representative for China's international trade negotiation.

The three countries have seen increasingly close economic and trade relations and are important partners and markets for each other, said Yu.

In 2012, the three countries' combined gross domestic product totalled $15 trillion, accounting for about 20 percent of the world's total and 70 percent of Asia's total.

Last year, bilateral trade between China and Japan hit $329.4 billion, while China-ROK trade reached $256.3 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 the year.