Sino-British trade will hopefully reach 20 billion US dollars this year, said Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai during a meeting with visiting British Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Patricia Hewitt.

According to the Chinese customs, Sino-British trade recorded 12.1 billion US dollars in the first eight months this year, up 40 percent year on year.

Bo and Hewitt agreed to make joint efforts to further increase bilateral trade and economic cooperation and to implement the consensus reached during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Britain last May.

Britain is China's biggest source of foreign investment within the European Union (EU), Bo said, but there is still a huge potential for British investment, especially in electronic and machine products and high-tech industries.

China also encourages its enterprises to invest abroad and work in cooperation with their British partners, Bo acknowledged, adding that he hopes the two sides will strive to forge a better and more fair trade environment.

Hewitt, currently here as guest of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, said that British-Chinese economic and trade ties were expanding at a very fast pace. The British government and business community attach importance to cooperation with China, she said.

British companies were doing quite well in China, indicating the great potential for economic and trade cooperation, she noted.