China signed a cooperation agreement Tuesday in Beijing with Italy on establishing a bilateral business mediation center, the first of its kind between China and European Union countries.

The agreement was signed by the Mediation Center of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the Italy-China Chamber of Commerce and Milan Mediation Association.

This business mediation center will adopt a co-chairing system with one chairman from China and the other from Italy, and there are two secretaries-general as well, CCPIT vice chairman Liu Wenjiesaid. "Two offices will be set up in Beijing and Milan to deal with the daily cases."

The center will formulate mediation rules and regulations by targeting the trade disputes and giving consideration to business characteristics of the two countries, according to Liu.

Experts from related sectors and departments in the two countries will be chosen as mediators, Liu said. "The two sides have agreed to commit themselves to promoting the center and its mediation services."

The trade disputes are unavoidable as Italy and China have witnessed the continued trade growth in recent years, said Antonio Marzano, minister of Production Activities of Italy. "This center will help resolve disputes arising from business transactions and develop mutual trust."

According to the statistics released by China Customs, China's trade with Italy in the first 10 months of this year reached 12.68 billion US dollars, up 31.6 percent from a year earlier, with its exports and imports growing by 37.1 percent and 24.7 percent to 7.42 billion US dollars and 5.26 billion US dollars respectively.

Huang He, head of CCPIT Legal Department and secretary-general of CCPIT mediation center, said that the establishment of the business mediation center corresponded to the good momentum of the China-Italy trade growth.

"Apart from resorting to lawsuit and arbitration, Chinese and Italian companies now have a more flexible, timely and money-saving means to settle the disputes." Huang said.

This is the fifth business mediation center China has forged with other countries or region. Previously, China established business mediation centers with Canada, the Republic of Korea and the United States. A similar center was also set up by the Chinese mainland and Macao.