Talks over a trilateral free trade agreement (FTA) are set to be held between China, South Korea and Japan this week.

South Korea's trade ministry has confirmed that working-level discussions will be taking place in Seoul between April 5th and 8th, representing the tenth round of negotiations over the proposed FTA, reports Xinhua.

Officials will be discussing key issues such as basic guidelines on how to liberalise goods trade and the service industries, as well as stipulations pertaining to country of origin, customs, trade remedy, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, plus technical barriers to trade.

The talks first commenced in November 2012, with leaders of the three participating countries agreeing to work towards speeding up their negotiations during a summit last November.

Between them, the combined GDP of China, Japan and South Korea accounts for about 20 per cent of the world's economic output and 70 per cent of the Asian region, meaning the outcome of the talks could have significant global consequences.