Shanghai ranks at the top among Chinese provinces and cities having economic and trade cooperation with Japan, according to a report released recently by the Belt and Road Foreign Trade Big Data Research Institute of the State Information Center.

The China Japan Trade and Investment Cooperation Report (2017) was officially released on Friday in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province.

"The eastern coastal provinces and cities, such as Guangdong and Jiangsu, are in close economic and trade relation with Japan," said Tong Youjun, president of Dalian Infobank Co Ltd, which participated in the report's compilation.

The report is based on the analysis of more than 1 million pieces of data from dozens of authoritative organizations around the globe, Tong said.

It shows that Japan is China's second largest trading partner and China is Japan's largest trading partner. In 2016, bilateral trade in goods amounted to $275.2 billion, with signs of warming up.

The two countries should actively promote negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement between China, Japan and Korea, so as to eliminate tariff and non-tariff barriers and improve the degree of intra-regional trade and investment liberalization, the report suggests.

The report also suggests Japan take advantage of China's Belt and Road Initiative to reduce the cost of overseas transportation and boost trade between Japan and countries involved in the Belt and Road.

The Dalian-based China - Japan Business Council liaison office and China International Trade Promotion Committee Dalian branch organized the preparation of the report. Dalian Infobank Co Ltd and the Belt and Road Foreign Trade Big Data Research Institute of the State Information Center jointly compiled the report.