MEXICO CITY, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Mexico and China will seek important progress towards signing a reciprocal investment promotion agreement before the end of 2007, Mexico's Secretary of Economy Eduardo Sojo said in the opening session of the 15th Mexico-China Plenary Meeting on Thursday.

"There is a great deal of interest for the current government to achieve this agreement with the Asian nation," Sojo said in the meeting, organized by the Mexican Council to promote foreign trade, investment and cooperation in technology.

"We are just beginning the negotiation process with China, hoping for a second meeting next July," Sojo said.

He said Mexican state governments are negotiating with Chinese provincial governments on some auto projects to receive investments this year.

Official figures show that the bilateral trade volume has increased from around 13 million U.S. dollars in 1972 when Mexico-China ties were formed to more than 11.4 billion dollars in 2006.