Japan, China, South Korea finance chiefs to meet on sidelines of G20

TOKYO (Reuters) - Finance ministers and central bank governors from Japan, China and South Korea will meet on Friday ahead of this weekend's Group of 20 gathering in Cairns, Australia, a Japanese finance ministry official said, despite Tokyo's strained diplomatic ties with its north Asian neighbours.

The policymakers will discuss macroeconomic conditions and regional financial cooperation, and South Korea will chair the meeting, the official said.

The three sides have not held such meeting since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe returned to power in late 2012. In the past, they would have usually met during an Asian Development Bank's annual conference.

Ties between Japan and its neighbours have soured due to maritime territorial disputes, and rows related to the legacy of Japan's wartime aggression in Asia.

As a result, financial cooperation has stalled in recent years between Tokyo, Beijing and Seoul, including over agreements such as one that would enable Japan to buy Chinese government debt. The three countries will issue a joint statement after the meeting, the official said.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Chris Gallagher and Simon Cameron-Moore)

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