China, Japan and South Korea agreed to cooperate more closely on countering the regional challenges created by the global financial crisis, Bloomberg reported. The pact was made during a weekend meeting in Fukuoka, Japan that featured Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak. A day earlier South Korea reached deals on bilateral currency swaps with both China and Japan, the world’s biggest holders of foreign currency reserves. As part of efforts to ensure financial stability in Asia, South Korea struck a currency swap agreement with China worth US$28 billion and increased an existing swap agreement with Japan to US$20 billion. The three nations also agreed to refrain imposing export restrictions or creating new barriers to investment and trade. The next trilateral summit will be held in China in 2009.