China and the United States need to strengthen cooperation in commerce and trade and solve disputes through dialogue, Vice-Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said in Beijing on Wednesday.

Chen made the remarks at a press briefing during the Third China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED), which began on Wednesday and will run through Thursday.

The two countries could reduce friction by expanding trade and increasing investment, said Chen.

He praised the Sino-U.S. Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, which concluded its 18th meeting on Tuesday, saying that it had served as an effective venue for bilateral negotiation.

Chinese data show that bilateral trade volume had risen from less than 2.5 billion U.S. dollars annually in the late 1970s, when China and the United States established diplomatic relations, to 262.68 billion U.S. dollars in 2006.

China has been the fastest-growing export market for the United States for five straight years and is anticipated to become the third largest buyer of U.S. goods this year, after Canada and Mexico.

Chen also urged the world's largest developing and developed countries to jointly tackle new challenges from globalization, which he said include unbalanced development among different regions, expanding income gaps and uneven industrial development.

The joint efforts include maintaining a stable currency and the steady development of the domestic economy, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2007)