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

 

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

 

Both sides enjoyed a lively debate 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 US$200 billion for the first time in 2006 and that accumulated direct investment from Japanese companies had reached US$57 billion.

 

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

 

Japan welcomes investment by Chinese companies into the country, he added.

 

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

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2006)