China and Japan yesterday agreed to work together on energy saving and environmental protection.

Officials signed several environmental co-operation documents on the sidelines of a forum on energy saving in Tokyo.

Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai led a Chinese delegation including officials and experts to the three-day forum, which started yesterday.

Topics on the agenda include steel, automobiles, cement and fuel cells among other sectors.

"I expect this forum will form the basis for a win-win relationship between industries in the two countries," Bo said at the opening ceremony.

Some 780 government officials, business representatives and academics from the two countries are taking part in the event.

Chinese delegates will visit major Japanese firms, including car manufacturers and power stations today and tomorrow, to learn about energy efficiency and environmental conservation.

China has set a goal of lowering energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent by the end of 2010, as against 2005 levels.

And experts hope industry can learn from Japan, which has survived two energy crises since the 1970s and has valuable experience in energy efficiency and environmental protection.

Increasing exchanges in energy and environmental fields will open new areas of co-operation for China and Japan and forge common interests for the two countries, Wang Yi, Chinese Ambassador to Japan, said at the forum's opening.

"At a time when our political ties are facing difficulties co-operation in energy and environmental issues will provide new momentum to improve Sino-Japanese relations," said Wang.

Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai briefed the forum on Japan's practice of improving energy efficiency through legislation, taxation, education, the pricing system and other methods.

Nikai said he hopes to share Japan's experiences with China and, "by doing that construct new co-operative relations between the two countries."

Speaking to Nikai during a meeting on Saturday, Bo expressed concerns about the icy political ties between Tokyo and Beijing.

"Political ties remain cold and are affecting economic relations and trade," Bo told Nikai.

He noted that the difficulty in bilateral relations arose not because of the Chinese side or the Japanese people, but because of the Japanese leader's insistence on visiting the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine, where top war criminals are honoured.

(China Daily 05/30/2006 page2)