Photo taken on April 25, 2011 shows the sixth session of the Northeast Asia Trilateral Forum in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. The annual session of the Northeast Asia Trilateral Forum opened here on Sunday, holding former political leaders, scholars and entrepreneurs from China, Japan and South Korea to discuss issues of common interests. The forum, cosponsored by China's Xinhua News Agency, Japan's Nikkei news group and South Korea's leading daily newspaper, Joong-Ang Ilbo, seeks to strengthen non-governmental exchanges among the three nations. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

Delegations from China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) on Monday called for a closer cooperation on disaster relief and environmental protection among the three countries.

At the 6th Session of the Northeast Asia Trilateral Forum in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, officials and scholars from the three countries said that the on-going Japan nuclear crisis reflected a lack of regional cooperation in alleviating environmental problems.

Disasters such as earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis cannot be solved single-handedly by one country, said former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone in a written statement at the forum .

Meng Wei, president of the China Environmental Science Research Institute, said, the nuclear crisis has been threatening the environment of the whole region and a dialogue mechanism on disaster relief should be established.

Former Minister of Environment of ROK, Kim Myung-Ja, said there is no national boundary in face of nuclear radiation, and the three countries should work together to ensure nuclear safety.

The Northeast Asia Trilateral Forum is co-sponsored by China's Xinhua News Agency, Japan's Nikkei news group and the ROK's leading daily newspaper, Joong-Ang Ilbo, seeks to strengthen non-governmental exchanges among the three nations.

The yearly event has alternated locations among the three countries since 2006.

The 6th Session of the Northeast Asia Trilateral Forum lasted from Sunday to Monday. The event was attended by figures from political, academic and business circles in China, Japan and the ROK.