China seeks more cooperation in investment, climate change, high-tech industries, and intellectual property rights along with stable trade with the European Union, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday.

Bilateral trade between the two sides is expected to more than double to US$800 billion by 2020, according to a research note from the Ministry of Commerce.

"The two sides have high growth potential in investment, especially in the high-tech area," said Sun Yongfu, director of the department of European affairs of the ministry. "Trade is to leverage further development."

Total European investment in China topped US$71 billion as of the end of June. Europe ranks as the third-biggest overseas investor on China's mainland along with Hong Kong and Japan.

China is investing more in Europe but there is potential for even stronger growth, Sun said.

China's combined investment in European Union countries amounted to US$4 billion so far. In the first half of this year, investment almost doubled to US$388 million from the same period last year.

China wants to learn from European expertise in fighting climate change as it is developing its economy in a greener way, Sun said.

Mauro Raffaele Petriccione, director-general for trade at the European Commission, said it's inevitable that economies will try to be more environmentally friendly and Europe is willing to help China in this area.

The EU is China's biggest trading partner, its biggest exports market and second-biggest importer. Trade between the two sides dropped 14.5 percent on an annual basis to US$364 billion last year.