(VOVworld) - China and the U.S. began negotiating a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) on Wednesday in Qingdao City in Shandong Province, China. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said this was the 22^nd round of negotiations since the BIT negotiation process began in 2008.

President Xi Jinping and President Barack Obama had talk at the White House on September 25th (Photo: Xinhua)

The Ministry said that both sides would try to advance the negotiations and speed up the process in the hope of reaching a high-standard and mutually beneficial deal. Negotiations are expected to last for 8 days. During his state visit to the US last month, President Xi Jinping and his counterpart Barack Obama agreed that the negotiation of a high-standard BIT was a top economic priority. The two countries said in a statement that they would "intensify the negotiations and work expeditiously" to conclude the talks. The BIT is aimed at facilitating and enabling market access and effective operation in the world's top two economies.