China and the U.S. began negotiating a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

"Both sides will try to advance the BIT negotiations with great effort and to speed up the process in hope of reaching a high-standard and mutually beneficial deal," said a brief MOC statement.

The eight-day meeting of senior officials in Qingdao City, Shandong Province is the 22nd round of BIT talks since 2008.

During his state visit to the U.S. last month, President Xi Jinping and his counterpart Barack Obama agreed the negotiation of a high-standard BIT is a top economic priority.

The two countries said in a statement that they will "intensify the negotiations and work expeditiously" to conclude the talks of the treaty.

The BIT is aimed at facilitating and enabling market access and market operation in the world's top two economies.

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