(Yicai Global) May 10 -- Top government bodies and officials from China and Japan have agreed to boost cooperation in the service sector as the world's second- and third-biggest economies draw closer together.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe watched their trade ministers Zhong Shan and Hiroshige Seko sign a deal to shore up cooperation in the service sector, the Chinese commerce ministry said online.

China's Ministry of Commerce and National Development and Reform Commission also penned a third-party market agreement with Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Economic and trade links between the two countries improved last year, with bilateral trade climbing to USD300 billion and appearing back on track after slumping about 8 percent to USD275 billion in 2016. Mainland tourism to the archipelago nation also rose 15 percent to 7.3 million trips last year, while China's new economy firms continued to pump cash into new economy models in Japan, such as cross-border e-commerce, mobile payments and the sharing economy.

The pair should also promote trilateral cooperation with South Korea and help integrate the East Asian economy, said Zhong, who is accompanying Li on his state visit, the first to Japan by a Chinese premier in eight years. China hopes to reach a mutually beneficial free trade agreement between the three nations as soon as possible, he added.

Editor: James Boynton