Vice-Premier Wang Yang said on June 23 that China is willing to work with the United States in holding this year’s China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, and both countries should strive for progress in bilateral trade cooperation.

Wang, who stressed the important role of China-US trade cooperation in the relationship, made the remarks when meeting with US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and US Trade Representative Michael Froman in Washington.

He also called for both countries to work together in pushing forward negotiations on a bilateral investment agreement.

China and the US should meet each other halfway in terms of formulating the negative list and strive to reach consensus at an early date, the vice-premier said.

Both Pritzker and Froman said Washington is willing to work with Beijing in further creating better conditions for developing bilateral trade cooperation.