China will further strengthen reciprocal cooperation with the United States in high technology, said State Councilor Chen Zhili on Thursday.

In a meeting with John H. Marburger III, director of the US White House Science and Technology Policy Office, Chen said China would also improve cooperation in the fields of energy, resources, environment, agriculture, health, public security and fundamental research, where the two nations share common interests.

China is also willing to carry out cooperation with the US side in space and aviation, information and communication, biology and nano technology, Chen said.

Marburger, also scientific advisor to the president, is leading a government delegation for the 12th meeting of the China-US Joint Commission on Science and Technology Cooperation, which opened on Wednesday.

During the meeting, the two sides reached broad consensus on some hot issues concerning bilateral scientific and technological cooperation, including environmental protection, energy and high-energy physics, and signed a memorandum of understanding on technological cooperation in environmental protection.

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2006)