BEIJING, Dec. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- The environment ministers of China,Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) issued a joint communique here Sunday, mapping out their future priorities in regional environmental cooperation.

    The communique, signed after the fifth tripartite environment ministerial meeting (TEMM) held in Beijing, noted that the three countries will strengthen their cooperation in acid deposits, marine pollution and sandstorms, the major environmental challenges facing Northeast Asia.

    The three countries are planning to build an acid deposit monitoring network in East Asia and launch joint researches on long-range air pollutants in Northeast Asia, according to the communique.

    It also said an early warning network system for dust and sandstorms, which have been exacerbated by droughts and land degradation, is urgently needed.

    The ministers agreed to establish a regional coordination unit soon to preserve the marine and coastal environment of the northwestern Pacific, and to launch publicity campaigns, especially among children, to increase people's environmental awareness.

    Xie Zhenhua, director of China's State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), spoke highly of the TEMM, sayingthat it reinforced cooperation on both regional and global environmental issues.

    The other two ministers, ROK Environmental Minister Han Myung-sook and Japanese Environment Minister Yuriko Koike also expressedtheir full confidence that TEMM will become the core environmentaldialogue regime in Northeast Asia.

    A yearly event since 1999, TEMM is the major regional environmental cooperation regime in Northeast Asia. The next TEMM will be convened in Japan in 2004. Enditem