SHANGHAI, April 30 -- China, Japan and the Republic of Korea have adopted an action plan on environmental cooperation for the 2015-2019 period.

Chinese Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining and his counterparts from Japan and the Republic of Korea, Yoshio Mochizuki and Yoon Seong-kyu, endorsed the plan during a two-day trilateral meeting that ended Thursday.

Under the plan, the three countries will conduct research and cooperation on issues such as sandstorms, smog and maritime pollution.

Chen hoped that the countries could strengthen communication, and support each other within the cooperation framework to achieve common benefits and joint development.

"[The three countries should] view each other's development differences objectively and join forces to push forward regional and global sustainable development by seeking common grounds and reserving differences through equal dialogues and friendly negotiations," Chen said.

During the meeting, the three ministers introduced each country's latest environmental policies and progress, and exchanged ideas on the environment, climate change, bio-diversity, sandstorms, mercury pollution and ocean waste.

The annual environment ministers' meeting has been hosted by the three countries in rotation since 1999.