Health ministers from South Korea, China and Japan have vowed to enhance cooperation among their countries to deal with the growing elderly population at their meeting in Jinan, northeastern China, the health ministry said Sunday.

At the two-day meeting that began the previous day, the ministers discussed ways to share each country's policies aimed at helping its population lead healthy and active old-age lives and to activate a research network among them on aging populations.

They also agreed to strengthen exchanges of information and technologies relating to the prevention and management of chronic diseases.

Also on the agenda at the meeting was how to develop traditional medicine among the three countries.

The three countries agreed to cooperate in categorizing traditional medicine under the international disease classification and making international industrial standards in the traditional medicine sector through the International Organization for Standardization.

The meeting between South Korean Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo, Chinese National Health and Family Planning Commission Minister Li Bin and Japanese Health Minister Katsunobu Kato was the 10th trilateral health ministers' conference since 2007. (Yonhap)