Chinese Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng and the acting administrator of the US Agency for International Development Alfonso Lenhardt signed a MoU about bilateral development and cooperation in Washington on Friday.

The MoU on China-US Development Cooperation and the Establishment of an Exchange and Communication Mechanism was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama at the White House in a joint press conference.

As a major achievement of Xi's state visit to the US, the MoU is the first one to boost Sino-US development cooperation in the form of document, said Gao.

Zhang Xiangchen, deputy China international trade representative, told China Daily that he reached an agreement on the MoU on Sept 21 with Mary Beth Goodman, senior director for development and democracy at the National Security Council.

In the past few years, China and the US have carried out development cooperation in the fields of agricultural and training in countries such as East Timor and Afghanistan. The two countries also cooperated in fighting Ebola in West Africa, and established close relations, laying a good foundation for future Sino-US cooperation.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the MoU will establish a communication mechanism and cooperation framework. Both sides agreed to hold an annual deputy ministerial level conference.

Lenhardt said at the signing ceremony that development cooperation has become a core element of Sino-US relations under the leadership of President Xi and President Obama, and this relationship will definitely be enhanced as the two countries work together to eliminate extreme poverty worldwide.

According to the MoU, in agriculture, the two countries agreed to continue the programs in East Timor. Also the two countries plan to establish an African Disease Control and Prevention Center with the help of the African Union. The two will also continue to enhance cooperation in facing the challenges of natural disasters and humanitarian aid.

Moreover, China and the US agreed to support the coming US 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, fighting extreme poverty and pushing global sustainable development. Gao said that with the help of the new MoU, the new type of Sino-US relationship was enriched, and more could be done in bilateral cooperation.