China and the United States agreed Wednesday that a more efficient use of energy and the development of new and renewable energy resources will be key targets of their future energy cooperation.

The agreement was reached during the second round of the Sino-U.S. energy policy dialogue, held in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang province.

Deputy Director of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Zhang Guobao said the United States and China, as the world's major energy producers and consumers, face similar challenges in the energy field, and have great potential for cooperation.

The two countries need to crank up dialogue on cooperation now that energy shortages have become a global issue, said Zhang.

The Sino-U.S. energy policy dialogue has become an important platform for the two sides to exchange ideas and cooperate in the energy area.

The NDRC and the U.S. Department of Energy signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral energy policy dialogue in 2004. The two countries held their first energy policy dialogue in Washington last year.

NDRC Deputy Director Chen Deming and Karen N. Harbert, assistant secretary for Policy and International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy, also attended the second round dialogue.

NDRC statistics list 20 Sino-U.S. joint oil and gas exploration projects in China, with a total investment from the U.S. side of 5 billion U.S. dollars.

Source: Xinhua