The fifth round of Sino-Japanese economic partnership negotiations was held Wednesday. The two sides reached consensus on stepping up cooperation in energy saving, environmental protection and improving the business environment.

The meeting was co-chaired by Chinese Assistant Minister of Commerce Chen Jian and Japanese Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mitoji Yabunaka.

The two sides exchanged views on promoting cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, construction, finance, telecommunication and law.

Chen said that the trade volume between China and Japan exceeded 200 billion U.S. dollars for the first time in 2006 and accumulated direct investment from Japanese companies has reached 57 billion U.S. dollars.

The two sides should explore new areas of cooperation in the future, increase technological cooperation and achieve a win-win outcome, Chen said.

Yabunaka spoke highly of bilateral trade relations, saying Japan is willing to deepen cooperation with China in energy saving, environmental protection and cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises.

Japan welcomes investment by Chinese companies in Japan, he added.

The Sino-Japanese economic partnership negotiations -- an inter-governmental consultation mechanism -- were launched in October 2002, to provide a platform to discuss problems in bilateral trade.

Source: Xinhua