BEIJING -- The European Union has agreed to make a compromise on lifting bans on hi-tech exports by setting up a special working team to discuss and address Chinese concerns, said the minister of Commerce.

"China expects the EU to loosen the restrictions on hi-tech exports to strengthen bilateral trade ties," and "we are glad to see the EU has decided to appoint a team to focus on addressing the issue," said Chen Deming, minister of Commerce, at the press briefing of the third China-EU High-level Economic and Trade Dialogue.

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"The first round of discussion by the working team of the EU will be held as soon as possible," said Chen.

During the past 11 months, China-EU trade has seen "fairly stable" growth, and bilateral trade by volume from January to November has surpassed 2008's total.

In November, EU exports to China grew by 39 percent from a year earlier, and China has been running a small trade surplus with the EU in the past 11 months.

What has concerned China for so long is the export control set by the EU on hi-tech goods, and experts said China's imports from the EU will grow by big margins if the EU loosened the restrictions.

At the China-US Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade held in Washington last week, China urged the US to loosen restrictions on export control, but the US made little progress on the issue.