BEIJING - China will provide even greater business opportunities for US companies in the next five years, said Vice President Xi Jinping on Friday.

Xi made the remarks while attending the China-US business dialogue with US Vice President Joe Biden.

"It is estimated that in the next five years, China will import commodities worth more than $8 trillion," he said, noting that China's total retail sales of consumer goods are expected to exceed 31 trillion yuan ($4.85 trillion).

"This will provide more business opportunities for foreign enterprises, including US companies," he said.

Thirty years ago, some US companies chose the Chinese market with extraordinary foresight and gallantry, and they shared the fruits of China's economic growth, he said.

Compared with the past, China now has a better reserve of talent and broader market space, he noted.

He said China will step up the transformation of its mode of economic development and expand domestic demand during the 12th Five Year Plan (2011-2016).

He said an increasing number of powerful and farsighted Chinese enterprises have actively exploited the US market in recent years.

He hopes companies of both countries will enhance cooperation in the areas of energy, environmental protection, infrastructure, biomedicine, financial services and small-and-medium sized enterprises in order to write a new chapter in bilateral economic cooperation.