BEIJING - China and the European Union (EU) have agreed to negotiate a bilateral investment treaty, said China's Minister of Commerce Chen Deming on Thursday.

He made the remarks during a joint briefing in Beijing with the visiting EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.

The minister said the two sides discussed a wide range of issues including investment, trade and intellectual property rights (IPR).

The EU expressed concern over China's compulsory certification regulations, export credits and exports of raw materials. China stated its views on high tech trade and registration of traditional herbal medicine. China also expressed grave concern over the EU's recent trade remedy measures particularly anti-subsidy duties, said Chen.

The EU is China's largest trading partner. China is the EU's fastest-rising export destination. Last year, bilateral trade reached $480 billion. In the first half of this year, bilateral trade grew 21.3 percent from a year ago with EU exports to China increasing 13percentage points faster than China's exports to the EU.

The EU Trade Commissioner said a more open EU-China market will benefit both sides. He welcomed China's moves in promoting technological innovation and looked forward to further cooperation particularly regarding raw materials, IPR and government procurement.