About 800 government officials and business leaders from the 2 countries took part in a forum in Beijing on Saturday to discuss environment-related issues.

Japanese industry minister Hiroshige Seko said that in the energy-conservation and environmental sectors, China is strong in production capacity, while Japan has experience and technological knowhow in both fields.

Seko added he believes the 2 countries can build "a win-win relationship."

He then signed a memorandum on energy cooperation with China's National Development and Reform Commission Minister, Xu Shaoshi.

The memorandum covers training of experts and the extending of financial assistance for energy-saving and environmental efforts.

During the forum, it was announced that public entities and companies of the 2 countries had signed up for 28 projects in the past year.

At a subcommittee meeting, the participants also heard about the results of joint research on setting up more charging stations for electric vehicles in China.

A Japanese participant said a meeting like this is significant as it allows the sharing of technology needed by China.