China and Japan Sunday signed an agreement in Beijing on mutual assistance and cooperation in law enforcement, information exchange, technical cooperation and personnel training between their customs departments.

Under the agreement, customs of the two countries are obliged to provide each other with information on possible activities breaching the Customs laws and regulations within their jurisdiction.

According to the agreement the Customs departments of the two countries shall, at the request of the other, conduct special surveillance of people suspected of breaking customs laws.

The agreement was signed by Sun Songpu, deputy director of the General Administration of Customs, and Chihiro Atsumi, minister with the Japanese Embassy in China on behalf their governments.

The agreement will further consolidate the legal basis for bilateral cooperation between the Customs departments of the two countries, the Chinese Customs department said in a statement.

China and Japan are each other's third largest trading partner, and the two countries have cooperated with each other many times on customs cases including drug trafficking, intellectual property rights protection and business irregularities since 2001.

(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2006)