BEIJING - CHINA said on Tuesday it would host a summit with the leaders of Japan and South Korea that would focus on future cooperation between the three countries, without specifying when it would take place.

'China will assume coordination of the meeting and will hold it in China,' foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters, referring to a three-way summit between the nations' leaders and foreign ministers.

'The meeting will make plans for our future cooperation and help the three countries play a greater role in contributing to stability and development.'

The Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, citing Chinese government sources in Beijing, reported Tuesday that the meeting would be held in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin on October 8.

Ms Jiang said a date had not yet been finalised.

Japan hosted the first such summit in December during which leaders agreed to tackle the global financial crisis and renew efforts to end North Korea's nuclear drive, but those multilateral efforts have since stalled.

Pyongyang pulled out of six-nation talks aimed at ending its atomic weapons programme in April in protest at the UN Security Council's censure of its long-range rocket launch that month.

In May, the North conducted its second nuclear test, incurring tougher sanctions that were even supported by close ally China, which chairs the talks.

And the reclusive state announced last week that it had reached the final stage of enriching uranium - a way of making nuclear bombs. -- AFP